Worth the Fight
by Mystikstorm
Summary: A rescue gone wrong leaves a Tracy fighting for his life. A mysterious visitor gives him a reason to keep fighting.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I unfortunately do not own any of the Thunderbirds, but I sure wish that did. LOL. Hope you enjoy the story.

CHAPTER 1

Thunderbird One hovered just over the accident scene. From his vantage point, Scott could see that it was bad. He was the first to arrive and maneuvered his bird around the area trying to find a safe place to set her down.

Initial reports had come back that there were multiple vehicles involved and an undetermined number of injured persons. The reports were that there was an accident with a lot of injuries. "That's an understatement," Scott mumbled to himself. He had counted at least eleven cars. All seemed to be destroyed in some form or fashion.

Trying to piece together an idea of what had happened, he looked around. A jackknifed semi looked as if it was the cause as it came around the curve. A curve that began right at the bridge. With the thick fog there wasn't anyway that oncoming traffic could see it until they were already on top of it and then it was too late to do anything.

It looked as if there were cars on top of cars. Some having even gone over the edge of the bridge. "Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two," Scott said as he found a safe spot to land.

"Go ahead Thunderbird One," came the reply.

"Dad, we need to get this road closed down as soon as possible," he advised. "There are cars everywhere and this fog is so thick you can cut it with a knife."

"Already on that, Son," Jeff replied. "Thunderbird Two is fifteen minutes from your location. Is it possible for you to give a status report as to how many cars were involved?"

Setting Thunderbird One down and releasing the restraints, Scott looked out the cockpit window and paused before answering. "_Damn," he thought to himself, "this looked bad from the air but it's ten times worse seeing it up close and personal."_

"It looks to be around eleven or more," Scott finally replied as he grabbed for the gear he'd need."

"Okay, Son," Jeff said. "Do what you can until we get there but keep comms open and apprise us of any changes in the situation."

"Will do, Dad." Exiting Thunderbird One, Scott ran quickly towards the scene. As he got closer he realized just how dangerous this rescue op was going to be. The smell of fuel and oil permeated the air, the closer he got. He saw the tanker truck just ahead and his blood ran cold through his veins and his heart skipped a few beats when he realized exactly what kind of fuel it had been hauling.

"Great," Scott breathed to himself, "this just went from bad to worse." He immediately contacted Thunderbird Two with the information.

"Dad, the tanker was hauling jet fuel," Scott said as he ran up to the rolled tanker.

There was a distinct pause before the reply as that news hit Jeff and the others, "Copy that and keep sharp, Son."

"Always do, Dad," Scott answered as he bent down and looked through the shattered windshield of the tanker. Reaching inside he checked for a pulse , but it was evident that the driver had already succumbed to his injuries. Making his way to the first car, Scott checked the passengers for any signs of life and finding none in that vehicle either, he moved on to the next.

"God," Scott whispered to himself after finding no living victims in the next three vehicles, "Are they all dead?" Scott had been relaying information to his Dad and brothers the whole time but the silence of the scene was starting to really get to him.

That is until he heard the sweet sound of Thunderbird Two's engines as she flew overhead to look for a place to make a safe landing. Climbing over the debris of a car that was on top of the another, Scott was slowly lowering himself down to the hood of the fourth vehicle. Gaining his balance on the twisted vehicle, he heard what sounded like crying coming from the inside. The SUV was smashed in from the front as well as the back from the impact of other cars. Scott had to lean over the crumpled hood to see into the vehicle, where he saw a man and woman slumped in the driver and passenger seats. The crying was coming from the back of the SUV but Scott couldn't see anything.

"Sir, sir, can you hear me?" Scott yelled through the windshield. Scott was relieved when he saw a small response from both the man and the woman at his shout. Shattering the windshield, Scott climbed further into the vehicle and began checking the injuries of both passengers. He pulled himself further inside so that he could see where the crying was coming from the backseat.

There he found a crying toddler, still in the car seat, but the seat itself was more or less in the floorboard of the vehicle. "Shhh, little one," Scott soothingly whispered as he reached to check the little fellow for injuries. "It's okay, I've got you." Relieved to see that the toddler was relatively okay, except for some minor cuts and bruises, Scott gently released him from the car seat and cradling him to his chest he slowly began to make his way out of the vehicle.

Scott was relieved to hear Virgil's voice calling for him as he finally crawled out of the vehicle with the precious cargo. Glancing around at the wreckage, Scott realized he was going to have to climb over two other vehicles in order to hand over the toddler to his brother. He would then hand the child over to Virgil so that he could get him to safety.

"I'm over here, Virg," Scott called, slowly making his way over the debris just as Virgil reached the other two vehicles.

Virgil looked up to see Scott carrying a whimpering toddler over what was left of two vehicles that were piled on top of one another and blocking the entire road. "Here Virg," Scott said, handing the child down to Virgil's waiting hands. "His parents are still in the vehicle and are stable for now. We're going to have to probably cut them from the car."

"Okay, Scott," Virgil said as he took the sobbing child from his brother. "I'll let the others know and we'll get the gear."

"Sounds good, but we need to really be careful with all this jet fuel around," Scott said pushing himself back up the debris to start his slow climb back to the SUV. "I haven't had a chance to check the other vehicles yet, Virgil, there are a lot of them. You and the others might need to start with them and we'll work our way towards each other."

"Alan and Gordy are already ahead of you. Dad dropped them off on the other end of the bridge and they are already heading this way." Virgil looked closer at his brother. "You okay Scott?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just get that little guy to Thunderbird Two and get him checked out."

"F-A-B, Scott." Virgil turned and carefully made his way back towards Thunderbirds One and Two.

Scott watched for a few minutes to make sure that Virgil didn't have any problems getting through the debris, before he turned and climbed back down to the hood of the SUV. Reaching inside his pack he took out a neck brace and was fitting it on the woman, when he heard his dad screaming his name through the comms link.

"SCOTT, GET OUT OF THERE!" Scott quickly backed out of the SUV when the sound of screeching tires and squealing brakes could be heard in the distance.

"Oh God," Scott breathed as he jumped to his feet and turned towards the sound. There was no time. Just as there was nothing that he could do except pray that his brothers had made it to safety as the oncoming semi slammed into the overturned fuel tanker igniting the jet fuel.

The explosion swept through the entire length of the bridge. Scott was sent flying through the air and over the bridge into the frigid, rushing waters of the river below. He was only partially aware of his brothers and father screaming his name as he thought, "How the hell did he get through the roadblock?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I still don't own them. *hanging head* Wish I did own them, tho. LOL

**CHAPTER 2**

Virgil made his way carefully past the fuel tanker with the trembling toddler in his arms. He was still a slight distance from Thunderbird Two when he saw his dad running towards him. Confusion wracked his brain for a few moments until he heard the sound of screeching tires and brakes. Instantly recognizing the sound of an out-of-control vehicle, Virgil took off running towards the safety of Thunderbird Two.

"SCOTT, GET OUT OF THERE." Jeff screamed over the comms making Virgil turn to see what was happening. Virgil knew that Scott was still on the bridge. He watched, frozen in place, as the horror unfolded in front of him. Knowing that there was nothing he could do.

Jeff was still running towards the bridge when the semi slammed into the overturned tanker. He was screaming Scott's name as the force of the explosion blew a fireball of flames and debris into the air and sent him flying backwards to land hard on his back.

Even with the breath temporarily knocked out of him from his landing, Jeff rolled, coming up to his knees, trying to push himself up to his feet. Jeff saw that Virgil had hit the ground and had shielded the child with his body from the blast, but seemed to be okay. He turned back towards the bridge. There the sight caused his heart to stop.

It was like a domino effect, as car after car blew into the air in fiery balls of flame. Bodies flew through the air along with the debris, but it was the sight of his oldest son being flung over the bridge railing that had Jeff on his feet and running towards the now flame engulfed bridge.

"SCOTTY," Jeff screamed as he ran. Watching as Scott's limp body hit the water. The flames of the debris ignited the fuel that had run off into the water. Lighting the whole area and sky with flickering red and gold, as his oldest son disappeared below the depths.

Virgil, having shielded the toddler with his body from the blast heard his dad screaming and turned to see his big brother's body flung into the air and into the now flaming water below. Torn and wanting to run to his brother's aid, but knowing that Scott was depending on him to take care of the little one in his arms, Virgil made his way quickly to Thunderbird Two.

"Oh God," Virgil prayed as he ran towards his bird, " Please, oh God, please help us. I can't lose my brother."

Making his way up the ramp and into the infirmary, Virgil quickly set to work on stabilizing the toddler and treating him for shock. Virgil knew that the sooner he got the toddler situated the better. He kept up the praying the whole time he worked, pleading for Scott to be okay and worried that his other two brothers might have been caught in the explosion.

On the other end of the bridge, Gordon and Alan were just helping a few injured over to a wooded area when they heard their dad's scream for Scott. Knowing from the sound of their dad's voice that something was very wrong, they both turned to see Jeff running from Thunderbird Two and Scott stand up on the crumbled hood of a totaled SUV.

Both Gordon and Alan watched in horror as the other end of the bridge was suddenly engulfed in a flaming inferno. The explosion quickly spreading to the other vehicles and sending bodies and debris flying into the evening sky. They could hear their father screaming Scott's name as they both saw their big brother's body flung over the railing into the water below.

Gordon didn't hesitate. Running as if demons from hell were chasing him, he made it to the river's edge and dove into the now flaming water. His years of swimming giving him the ability to fight the current, and the love for his big brother giving him the determination to brave anything to get to him.

Alan watched as Gordon flung himself into the water. Watched as the flames licked along the surface of the waves from the jet fuel that had settled on the top of the water to give it an eerie glow of death. There was nothing anyone could do for the people that had still been trapped in the vehicles on the bridge. Their screams could be heard over the roar of the flames as the explosion enveloped them. Alan and the remaining survivors watched with horror written on their faces as Gordon surfaced a few yards away, surrounded by floating debris, bodies and flames.

Diving down into the murky depths, Gordon searched frantically for any sign of Scott. His panic rising as he realized that he didn't know how far the current would have taken his brother and praying that he found him in enough time. Swimming along with the current, Gordon felt after a few minutes his lungs begin burn from the lack of oxygen and knew he would have to surface soon, when he saw a flash of silver. Not knowing if it was debris or not, Gordon wasn't going to chance it, and swam hard towards what had caught his attention.

As he got closer, he could make out the outline of a body. Praying that it was Scott, he dove down to check. Gordon saw the flash of silver again and recognized it was his brother's watch. Grasping Scott's waist and pulling his brother towards him, Gordon began quickly ascending back towards the surface. Gordon's lungs felt as if they were going to burst as his head broke into the burning night air. He took a deep gasping breath, pulling his big brother close and cradling him in his arms.

Jeff made it to the edge of the river in time to see Gordon fling himself in. He watched as his red haired son dove under the water. Anxious, he searched for Gordon just as the younger man broke the surface a few yards downstream and then dove back down into the water. Seeing the flames on the water, Jeff realized that now he not only had one son in danger but two.

Trusting that Gordon would find Scott in time, Jeff made the hardest decision in his life and turned from the river towards Thunderbird One and starting running. He knew that the flames would burn on the surface of the water for a while because of the jet fuel and he needed to get them out so that his sons would have a fighting chance. "Oh God," Jeff pleaded. "I cannot do this without you. Give me the strength to do what needs to be done and keep my boys alive."

Reaching Thunderbird One, Jeff climbed into the cockpit and fired up the engines. Knowing that every second was counting now, he jerked the roaring 'bird into the air and turned towards the river. Reaching towards the console, Jeff flipped a switch and took aim at the flames that were lapping along the surface of the water.

Panels immediately dropped from the center of the wings and the radar panel illuminated the cockpit as Jeff fired towards the flames. Jets of foam spewed forth from the wings of Thunderbird One, smothering the flames as Jeff hovered the craft above them. With the majority of the flames put out, Jeff then turned towards the bridge and smothered the flames there as well. All the while keeping an eye on the surface of the water for any signs his two sons.

After breaking the surface, Gordon fought against the current and the drag created by his brother's limp body. His one-armed modified stroke began to slow just as he felt Scott being pulled from him. "NO!"

A touch to his arm startled him, causing him to sink below the water. It was just enough to suck in some the contaminated river water. A strong grip jerked him up again. "Damnit, Gordy, don't do that shit to me." Alan glared at his brother but Gordon could see the fear and worry in his baby brother's eyes.

Together they pulled Scott towards the river bank. Gordon could feel what Alan couldn't. He could feel that their oldest brother was not breathing.

Alan had jumped into the water as soon as he saw Gordon break the surface and swam towards his brothers. Alan suspected that Scott was hurt bad, because he wasn't moving and fear coursed through him at the thought of losing his big brother.

"We've got to get him to shore, NOW." Gordon gasped breathlessly when he saw Alan begin to panic. "I need you focused, baby brother. I can't do this without you. Scotty needs us, and we can't let him down."

Nodding jerkily, Alan supported Scott's head along with Gordon and they quickly swam the rest of the way to the muddy bank. Gently lifting their injured brother into their arms, they walked quickly towards a flat grassy area and carefully laid him down. Then without missing a beat, Alan began CPR, and Gordon reached for the medical bag that Alan had dropped on the bank before jumping in to help. Gordon pulled out the defibrillator and began the prep incase it was needed to restart their fallen brother's heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them, damn it.

**A/N:** Sorry this update is so late, but real life has that nasty habit of rearing its fugly head and making things chaotic. Oh well, I really hope you like it. Just for the record, this was a hard chapter to write, being that Scott is my favorite of them all. Okay, enough from me, read and enjoy!

**CHAPTER 3**

From Thunderbird Five, John had been monitoring the rescue since the 9-1-1 call had come in. He had passed on the information from the call and was listening to the communications between his brothers and father. More than a little worried, he was trying to piggyback a satellite in order to actually see the scene when he heard Scott tell their dad that it was a tanker hauling jet fuel.

John's heart actually felt as if it had skipped a beat when he heard that. His fingers flying over the keys, John heard Scott talking to Virgil, telling him to get a child to safety. Gordon and Alan's chatter filtered through as well. They had extracted survivors from vehicles on the other side of the bridge from Scott. Just as John accessed the systems of a military satellite in order to actually take a look at the scene, he heard his father screaming Scott's name. The fear in his father's voice made him look up at the monitor.

John couldn't see a thing at first. There was nothing but gray from the fog at the scene, but suddenly there was a burst of light so blinding that he had to actually shield his eyes and turn from the monitor. The screams of his father and brothers' filled his ears and deafened him momentarily as he turned back to the monitor to see a fireball running the length of the bridge.

"NO," John screamed as he rose to his feet, gripping the console to hold himself steady. "SCOTTY."

John watched in horror as Gordon ran and dove into the water. Watching closely, he saw him surface then dive back into the depths once more. Watched as his father ran towards the water then changed course and made for Thunderbird One. Listened as Alan, Virgil, and their father prayed to God that Scott would be okay and Gordon would find him.

Alone on Five, he had never felt so helpless. All he could do was watch everything unfold, as he went through the motions of letting the proper authorities know the situation. His eyes never left the monitor that showed his father in Thunderbird One putting out the flames on the water and bridge. It was the sight of his baby brother, Alan, jumping into the water and swimming over to help Gordon pull their big brother to shore that stopped his heart completely.

Even thousands of miles above the earth, John could see that Scott wasn't breathing. Something in him died at the sight. A gaping wound ripped through his soul as Gordy and Alan pulled Scott from the water and laid him on the ground. John could feel the scream building up in his throat as he watched his brothers perform CPR and prepare the defibrillator.

"Breathe, Scotty," John whispered over and over to keep himself from screaming as he watched his brothers working so hard to bring Scott back. "Please just take a breath and breathe."

"John, answer me. John?" Jeff's commanding voice finally penetrated his consciousness. "I need you, Son. I need you to concentrate so that we can get Scott help."

John had no idea how long his dad had been trying to get him to respond, but could tell that it obviously had been a few minutes because there was definitely concern in his voice. "I'm here, Dad. I already contacted the authorities and the hospitals."

"That's good, Son," Jeff said as a sense of relief washed over him. Jeff knew that John would have been watching the entire rescue from Thunderbird Five and would have seen what happened. It had scared him when his normally calm son hadn't answered him. "I need for you to be sure that they close down this area and no more vehicles get through so that we can keep Gordy and Alan safe while they work on Scott okay, John?"

"D-Dad, Scott's not breathing." John's voice cracked even though he tried not to let it. "Gordy and Alan are working on him, but he's not breathing."

"I know, Johnny, but Gordy and Alan know what they are doing and they will get Scotty breathing again," Jeff said soothingly even though he was shaking uncontrollably as he maneuvered Thunderbird One around the bridge trying to find a place to land. "Just keep doing what needs to be done and trust that Gordy and Alan will do everything they can to bring Scott back to us."

Jeff finally found a place to land and a few minutes later was running from Thunderbird One over to where Gordy and Alan were working on Scott. There he found them surrounded by the few survivors that they had rescued and two of the survivors were holding pressure on two major wounds that were bleeding. The wound in Scott's leg was serious Jeff saw as he got closer, but it was the head wound that took his breath. There were no words to describe the fear that coursed through him as he ran the last few feet to fall to his knees and reach for his oldest son.

Virgil, meanwhile, had stabilized the toddler and had him sleeping in the infirmary and was now firing up Thunderbird Two. His head filled with thoughts of Scott and how desperately he needed to get to him as he swung Two around and started looking for a landing spot on the other side of the bridge. He could hear John's continuing litany begging Scott to "breathe" and it was making Virgil's growing panic get stronger every second.

John was the voice of calm in the storm, whenever something bad happened on a rescue, so it was disturbing to hear the fear and panic in his normally calm brother. For John to panic like that, Scott was in real bad condition, because John would have been yelling for Scott to get off his ass and help if it were nothing.

Virgil and the rest of the family knew that Scott and John were close. So close sometimes that they could practically predict what the other was going to say or do before they said or did it. Scott was their rock. He was the rock that the others stood upon when things got out of control and the rock that others broke themselves upon when they tried to hurt one of his brothers. Even their Dad depended on Scott, because in a lot of ways, Scott was his rock, too.

"Oh God," Virgil prayed, "we can't lose him. You can't take him from us when You know how much we need him."

"CLEAR." Gordon yelled as he pressed the buttons and sent a shock through his older brother causing his body to arch and jerk. The minute it was over, Jeff reached over to check for a pulse and whispered quietly," Come on, Son, you can do this. Come back to us." Just as he was about to pull away, and let Alan resume CPR, he felt that faint telltale thump against his fingers of a heartbeat. "That's it, Scotty, come on. Breathe for us, Son, just breathe." He leaned close to his son's ear and stroked his cheek.

There was a sudden tensing of Scott's body, and Jeff could see his son fighting to take a breath as he twisted and fought against the hands that were how trying to keep him still. Jeff's voice got louder as he repeated Scott's name over and over, hoping that hearing his voice would calm Scott and keep him from further injury.

Suddenly, Scott's body went completely still. His arched back collapsing back to the ground only to rise again with the first coughing breath he had taken since the explosion. His cobalt blue eyes fluttered as he struggled to take in more air. Those blue eyes opened only once. Going wide with panic as Scott's body jerked and sat up with a cry of "NO", before collapsing back into the arms that were reaching for him.

Scott continued to breathe, as Gordon, jerkily placed the oxygen mask over his face and looked worriedly at their father. The water had been freezing cold, but the amount of time that Scott had been down had been too long. Now all they could do was wait. Wait to see if there was going to be any permanent damage.

Helping with the head wound, Jeff saw the worry in Gordon's eyes, but said nothing as he attempted a reassuring smile that he didn't feel. "He'll be okay, Gordy. Scott's never let us down and he won't do that now," Jeff said. To himself, he thought, _"He just has to be okay."_


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Thunderbirds, dang it, but really wish that I did.

A/N : Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter posted. It's been hectic and with the storms knocking the power out all the time, makes it difficult. I also had a brain fart and didn't save what I wrote the first time and lost it all when the power blinked out, but I think I have that fixed now. LOL, ( STOP LAUGHING SAM1, my evil twin, you!) As you can see Sam1 gets great amusement from my temporary lapses in brain activity, but I happen to know that she has done the same thing. :) Well I hope you enjoy the new chapter. This one was difficult to get through, Scotty being my fav and all, but I did it. So you guys sit back, read and enjoy. For those of you that are reading and reviewing this story, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm excited that you are liking it so much. MUAH !!

CHAPTER 4

The concussion of the explosion sent Scott's body flying through the air. An all-consuming, blazing pain ripped through his body as he plummeted towards the freezing water. A piece of metal speared itself through his leg and another piece of debris sliced into the side of his head. It felt as if he were being scalped by a hot poker before the cold of the water numbed him completely.

Hitting the cold water hard, the metal in his leg pushed all the way through and left just the gaping wound. The impact wrenched his body and knocked the breath from him. It was a merciful unconsciousness that took him away from the pain and beating that his body sustained in the debris filled current.

The darkness wrapped its icy arms around him and dragged him into the depths. Away from his family, his life and away from the light that led to something that called to him. The light called his name and reached for him with loving arms instead of the ones that held him in Death's grip.

The darkness was too strong and pulled him further and further from that call, as Scott felt himself floating away. He floated away from the pain as he felt nothing but frigidness with no warmth. Just a numbing cold that he couldn't fight because his body didn't respond to his commands. It was too broken and battered and Scott could do nothing but let the darkness take him as he struggled to survive.

Scott thought it was strange that he could still think. He could feel his body going through the natural survival instincts, trying to draw air, and reaching for the surface. But there was no air and no surface to reach. He knew he wasn't going to come out of this rescue unscathed. He just never expected to die, but he'd be damned if he didn't go down fighting.

That knowledge gave a strange sense of peace and he found that he could actually accept that he wasn't going to make it back home from this rescue. His only regret is that he'd never get to see his brothers or father again and tell them how much they meant.

The darkness dragging him down grew stronger even though he fought with everything in him. He knew he was losing the battle, but still he fought on. He was a Tracy after all, and Tracy's fought no matter the odds. Scott knew that if there was even a glimmer of hope that he'd make it out of this then he was going to make sure that he found it.

"Scotty, hold on, my baby," a voice filled with love whispered through the darkness. "Our Gordy has you and everything will be alright. Just hang on a little longer, my angel boy."

"Mom?" Scott thought to himself as he felt a ghostly hand brush his face and kiss his closed eyes. He knew that touch. He remembered his mother doing that to him every night when she tucked him in. That touch alone let him know that everything was going to work out. His mother was here with him and she wouldn't leave him or let the darkness take him.

Suddenly, Scott was wrenched from the cold and arms surrounded him and pulled him from the darkness. Those arms pulled him towards the surface and held him tightly so that the darkness couldn't pull him back down. It was strange knowing that he wasn't breathing and that his heart had long since stopped beating even before he hit the water, but that he could still feel Gordon's strong arms around him.

Scott could feel himself drifting further away, though. Away from that familiar feel of Gordy's arms around him and the feel of self. "Maybe my body just couldn't fight anymore," he thought as he became vaguely aware of another pair of arms taking hold of him. Somehow he just knew it was Alan's arms that were there.

As his brothers' arms surrounded him, Scott gave up the fight because he knew his brothers were with him, and let himself reach for that peaceful place he saw in the light before him.

He was almost there. Almost in that beautiful place where the light was so warm, when a glowing figure appeared in his path and drifted towards him. "Scott Carpenter Tracy," the figure said in a commanding feminine voice, "Where do you think you are going?"

Scott found himself unable to go any further and was suddenly embraced by the glowing figure. The scent of lilacs and lavender surrounded him and tears filled his eyes as he looked up into the blue eyes of his mother.

"You are not going anywhere but back to your brothers and father, my angel boy," Lucy whispered as she held Scott close and stroked his dark brown hair. "They need you and there is someone else that needs you there, too."

"I don't understand, Mom," Scott said as he lifted his cobalt blue eyes to his mother's. "What do you mean?"

"You'll know in time, my baby, but you need to go back now. Your father and brothers are calling for you," Lucy said as she tightened her hold on him. She kissed him lightly on the top of the head then took his hands in hers and met his eyes. Her love for her oldest boy shining in her eyes as she felt him suddenly being pulled from her, back to the safety of his father and brothers.

Just as Lucy released her hold on Scott and took his hands, he felt a jolt of pain slam through him and he cried out as he felt himself being wrenched from his mother's loving hold. It felt as if his body was being electrocuted over and over again and the pain became more unbearable the further he was pulled from the light and his mother.

The pain in his leg was the first thing that he felt. His oxygen deprived lungs burned as they labored to draw a breath and his heart tried to push blood through his frozen body. His head was the last pain that he acknowledged before he found himself jerking upwards and screaming out "NO" as his mother's figure began to fade from him. Before falling back into unconsciousness, he heard his father's voice telling him it was okay and that he was safe, but for some reason, Scott didn't think this horrible journey was over.


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own the Thunderbirds or any of those awesome machines they fly and use. DANG IT !! I could use one tho for when ppl who get their drivers license at a Clearance sale on some sidewalk somewhere get in my way I can just blow them out of my way. LOL

**A/N: **Hope you enjoy this chapter. It was very hard to write as I was actually picturing what was happening when I was writing it. I have to let you all know that I am in NO WAY a medical professional and any mistakes were totally unintentional.

**CHAPTER 5**

After landing Thunderbird Two, Virgil quickly checked on the sleeping toddler and made certain he was okay. He then quickly gathered up the gear he would need for transporting Scotty to one of ambulances that had pulled up along with the Fire and Rescue engines from surrounding areas.

"John, can you give me a status on Scott?" Virgil asked as he gathered everything that he thought he would need. "Did Gordy and Alan get him breathing yet?"

At first there wasn't a response, but then John answered, a noticeable tremor in his voice that told Virgil just how dire the situation truly was. "I-I'm not sure, Virgil. It looks like Gordy and Alan have stopped doing CPR."

Virgil's heart stopped beating in his chest when he heard John utter those words. It literally stopped even wanting to beat. "What do you mean they've stopped doing CPR? They can't stop, they have to keep going until Scotty is breathing again and his heart is beating," Virgil growled as panic set in.

"Boys," Jeff's shaky voice came over the comms links, startling both John and Virgil. "Scott is breathing now, but he's seriously injured, I need you both to calm down and help us get him out of here."

Even as Jeff spoke, Fire and Rescue from three surrounding areas and local EMS units arrived and were already helping with the fire and surviving injured that had been able to get off the bridge before it blew.

"John, I need for you to contact the nearest trauma unit and inform them that we have injured survivors and we need immediate media lockdown and security to prepare for a member of IR," Jeff said in a calmer voice this time.

Virgil, in the meantime, had gathered the toddler and handed him over to a paramedic to transport the sleeping little man to the hospital. He then gathered up his gear and ran towards his brothers and father who were still working on Scott.

Reaching the site where they were, Virgil immediately knelt down and began to visually assess his brother's visible injuries while preparing the neck brace and backboard. There was no way to tell what type of internal injuries Scott had sustained, but just from the outward appearance, Virgil could guess that they were extensive.

Virgil noticed that their dad was practically holding a piece of Scott's scalp to his head where it had been sliced open as blood covered one entire side of his face. Alan had fashioned a tourniquet to Scott's right leg to staunch the blood pouring from the wound and Virgil immediately felt panic growing at the amount of blood loss.

Scott's breathing seemed labored, but at least he was breathing, Virgil noticed as he began pulling at the leg of the uniform covering the wound in Scott's leg. Tearing the fabric, Virgil saw that whatever had pierced his brother's leg had gone straight through but the bone seemed to be intact from what he could tell.

"How bad is it, Son?" Jeff asked as he kept a firm hold on Scott's head wound.

"Bad, it's really bad." Virgil didn't look up as he answered but Jeff could hear the tremor in his voice even as his hand moved steadily as they worked to stop the bleeding. "The femoral artery has been nicked and we need to get this bleeding stopped or at least slowed. The cold water helped to slow it, and the fact that his heart had stopped, but not that it's beating again and he's out of the water the bleeding has started again."

Virgil finished packing Scott's wound and tying it off with the tourniquet again while Gordy, Alan and his Dad worked on wrapping the head wound and checking for other injuries in silence.

Jeff held Scott's head and neck steady as Virgil then slid the neck brace in place so that no further injury would occur to Scotty's neck.

As Virgil leaned over his brother to finish strapping the neck brace into place, he noticed the abnormal swelling along his brother's neck and immediately stilled. "Oh God," he whispered, "I think his neck is broken."

"WHAT?" Alan all but screamed as he jerked upright from where he had been leaning over to adjust Scott's uniform back over his chest.

"There's a lot of swelling on the right side of his neck and it's not on the side that he was hit on, which tells me there is some sort of trauma there," Virgil said as he finished fastening the neck brace. "Let's just get him on the back board and be very careful doing it."

"I'll stabilize his head," Jeff said as he placed his hands on each side of his eldest son's head. Jeff was growing more and more anxious as the minutes passed. He knew that they needed to get Scott to a hospital soon or his son may not make it.

Jeff looked over at Gordon who had been really quiet the whole time and saw him finishing attaching the IV to the port he had inserted in his brother's arm. Jeff noticed how his red haired son's hands trembled slightly as they gently stroked his brother's burnt fingers and hand. The burns didn't seem too serious there, but there were others that looked to be second degree on Scott's face, arms and chest. Jeff knew that if they were bad that the one's on his back would probably be worse.

Suddenly, a strange voice came from behind him and he turned his neck as his other sons looked up sharply. "Is there anything we can do to help, Sir?" The paramedic said as he came over with a stretcher.

"Yeah," Gordon snapped. "Leave the damn stretcher and get back to the ambulance and have it ready to go when we get there!"

The paramedic seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he turned to his partner and leaving the stretcher they both ran for the ambulance.

"Gordon," Jeff said as he looked at him sharply. "I know that you're worried as we all are, but that is no excuse for you to snap at people like that. Let's just get your brother on the backboard and get him out of here."

"Sorry, Dad," Gordon said. Then sighing deeply and trying to calm himself, Gordon helped his brothers and father shift Scott slightly over on his side as Virgil slid the backboard under his oldest brother's broken body.

Getting Scott settled on the backboard, Alan, Gordon, Virgil and their father all lifted him gently and placed him on the stretcher. Once they had him settled, Virgil and Alan began strapping him down for transport.

Up on Thunderbird Five, John was watching the entire scene on the monitors and was listening in on the conversation. He was doing his best to try not to panic when Virgil said that it looked like Scott's neck was broken, but he was losing that battle.

John watched as they fitted Scott's neck and head with the neck brace and secured him to the backboard. As they lifted his unconscious big brother onto the stretcher, John got an even clearer view of his brother's injuries from the satellite position and tightened his hold on the console as the need to be there ran through him.

"Dad," John breathed into the communications link. "I want to come home. I want to be there if Scotty needs me."

"Joh -," Jeff started but stopped mid-sentence as a whimper escaped from between Scott's bloody lips causing everyone to pause in what they were doing. "Scotty," Jeff said as he leaned over and stroked his thumb over Scott's forehead. "Can you hear me?"

There wasn't a response, but more small whimpers came from Scott as they finished strapping him down to the stretcher, adjusting the IV and began the trek to the ambulance. Making their way carefully up the incline to the opened ambulance doors, they gently placed the stretcher in the ambulance and Jeff turned to the others.

"Virgil, you ride with Scotty. Gordy, you and Alan get Two and meet Virgil and Scotty at the hospital. I'll get One and meet you all there as soon as I'm sure the scene is secure."

Then taking a breath, Jeff remembered John was waiting up in Five. "John, I'm sending Brains in Three to get you," Jeff said as he raked a hand covered in his son's blood through his hair. "We all need to be here," he whispered as he closed his eyes. To himself he said, "We need to be here incase our Scotty doesn't make it."


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Thunderbirds or any of the wonderful crafts they fly. *hangs head* DAMN IT!

**A/N:** First and foremost, "WARNING TISSUE ALERT". Secondly, just hope that you enjoy the chapter. And the thirdly, I'm not a doctor or even a nurse so forgive me if any of the medical bits seem to be off. I'm not trying to offend anyone with my limited medical knowledge. Thank you all for reading and reviewing.

**CHAPTER 6**

Virgil climbed into the ambulance and sat at Scott's head as the paramedic immediately began accessing the injuries and asking him questions as to what type of treatment they had already administered. The first thing he did though was let John know which hospital they were taking Scotty to so that there would be some security and the trauma unit would be expecting them.

Virgil responded to the questions as he looked to see the fading grim faces of his two brothers and father fading in the window as the ambulance pulled away from the scene and speed forward. He was in automatic mode as his mind screamed and flashed all possible scenarios that the next few minutes could hold for Scotty and his family.

He placed a steadying hand on his brother's forehead as the ambulance took a curve sharply and sent everyone and everything shifting slightly to one side. Virgil wanted to tell the driver to slow down, but he knew that they needed to get his brother to the hospital as soon as possible if he was going to stand a chance at surviving.

Virgil watched the paramedic like a hawk and was keeping a constant eye on Scott's heart reading and breathing. His brother's breathing was becoming more and more labored which indicated there could possibly be a compromise to a lung and that it was collapsing. With his broken ribs that was a distinct possibility and Virgil knew this was going from bad to really serious with every moment.

The paramedic, whose name was Jim, administered antibiotics after making sure that Scott wasn't allergic to anything and also added some more drugs for shock to the IV that Virgil had inserted earlier. While doing this, Jim radioed the St. Vincent ER to let them know the status of Scott's injuries and what drugs had been administered.

"Patient is unconscious with severe head trauma to left cranial, leg wound right side with entry and exit. Swelling of left cervical side indicating possible neck trauma. Patient's breathing is labored and shallow with limited breath sounds on right side. Signs of hypothermia are present. First, second and third degree burns over 20% of body.

Patient was given CPR at scene, defibrillator was used and heart rate is holding steady at 62, BP is 80 over 60. Patient was already set up with IV at scene, and has been given saline and drugs for shock. Also administered antibiotics. ETA to Trauma unit, 15 minutes, will keep advised or changes to patient's status."

All the while, Virgil kept his eyes on Scotty and noticed that he had started to shiver and the small breathy whimpers were still there also. Just hearing the paramedic list the injuries was making Virgil sick to his stomach.

His big brother had never been this hurt. Yeah, they'd all been hurt at some time or other on a rescue mission, but Virgil couldn't remember a time when Scotty had ever been this injured. It was scaring him to death. He just prayed that his big brother was strong enough to fight, because this was going to be a big fight.

It seemed like it took ages until they finally arrived at the ER trauma unit and the doors of the ambulance were thrown open and hands reached in and pulled his brother out into a crowd of hospital staff and security. Virgil followed at a close pace making sure to keep a hand on his brother's dark hair.

He couldn't bring himself to let go. It felt as if were he to let go, then Scott would fade away from him and they would never get him back this time. He placed a death grip on the gurney as they transferred Scott from the stretcher and the doctors began prepping him for immediate surgery.

At first, Virgil didn't feel the firm but gentle hand on his arm and shoulder, but it finally did register that someone was talking to him and he looked up into the kind face of a nurse.

"Sweetie," she said in a strangely calm voice, "you need to let go and move out of the way so that the good doctors can work on your friend."

"He's my brother," Virgil said in a whispered voice as he felt the nurse gently prying his fingers free of his brother's hair and the gurney. "H-he's my big brother," he said again as the nurse led him to the side out of the way of the doctors, who were working frantically to stabilize Scott for surgery.

"He's in good hands, Sweetie," the nurse said as she gently reached up and wiped a stray tear that had escaped and was rolling gently down Virgil's cheek. "These men and women in here are going to do their very best to make sure that your brother is okay and that he gets well. Now, I need you to stay right here and let them do that and you can see what they are doing so you know they aren't hurting him, okay."

Virgil really hadn't been paying her any attention because he'd been listening to what the doctors were saying and what they were doing to treat Scotty the whole time she was talking. He didn't even acknowledge that she had touched his face the first time. Virgil still didn't look at her even as she was looking him over for injuries he might have sustained. That is until she placed both hands on his face and moved in front of him, blocking his view of Scotty.

Virgil normally wasn't a violent person, but the stress and trauma of the rescue along with seeing his brother fighting for his life on the gurney not three steps in front of him, had him lifting his hands to shove the object blocking his view out of the way. His emotions were all over the place and as his view of Scotty was blocked hopeless rage flew through him and he didn't even think as he snarled and reached for the nurse. The nurse seeing Virgil's eyes narrow and a pained rage-filled snarl emit from his throat, stepped back away from him, but before she could, she was lifted from behind and placed to the side out of harm's way.

She didn't know who the blond young man was, but from the uniform he wore she knew he was a member of IR like the two already here. As she was set back on her feet she saw an older IR member lock his arms tightly around the now struggling young man at the door and lift him against his chest. Another red-haired young man reached and gently wiped the, now, streaming tears from his face as he repeated the name, "Scotty," over and over again and reached desperately towards the young man on the gurney.

"It's okay," Alan said as he turned the stunned nurse towards him. "We'll take care of him and keep him out of the way." After making certain that she was okay, he turned back to see Gordon and his father trying to calm Virgil who was struggling and trying to get free.

Alan having never seen Virgil lose it like that began to feel his own panic rise. He realized that all of them had always depended on Scott being the strong one, and now that he was hurt and down they didn't know how to react. Alan took in a deep breath as he concluded that "this" was going to be the biggest wakeup call for them all and he wasn't so sure they would survive it if it went bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own the Thunderbirds, *sigh*

**A/N:** Hope you enjoy this chapter. More will be revealed in the next chapters. Thank you all for the reviews and keep reading!

**CHAPTER 7**

Jeff lifted his son off his feet and pulled him close so that Virgil's back was against his chest. Wrapping one arm around Virgil's waist, he placed one on his forehead. He gently forced Virgil's his head back onto his shoulder so that he could speak quietly to the distraught younger man. Gordon stood in front of him, trying to get Virgil to look at him. However, his brother was too far gone for the moment and paid no attention.

Jeff backed them out of the door and didn't stop until his own back touched the wall opposite the room Scott was in. Then he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor and cradling his son in his arms as Gordon and Alan came to kneel down beside them.

"Shh, Virgil," Jeff whispered as he stroked his son's hair. "Scott is strong. If anyone can pull through this, he can. You know this, Son. All of you know this. We just need to be strong for him right now and send him our love and nothing but positive thoughts and trust that the doctors will do their best."

Even as Jeff spoke, he wasn't so sure that Scott would be strong enough to pull through. He only knew that he wasn't about to give up hope on his son. He never had before and he wasn't about to start doing it now. All of his boys were strong, and he'd never give up on any of them. He loved them too much. They were the air he breathed and had been since the day each of them was born. No, he'd never give up on his Scott. Never.

Looking over at his two youngest sons, he saw a mixture of fear and hope in their eyes. He glanced down into Virgil's tear-filled eyes he saw the same thing. Virgil had stopped struggling and was now sitting quietly as a strange calm enveloped the group. They each looked at one another and for a moment each could swear they smelled the beautiful scent of lilacs and lavender. It was in that moment that Jeff realized that Lucy was with them, embracing all four of them with her love and that lovely scent.

The nurse even commented on the loveliness of the scent as she came out of the room Scott was in. She saw that the others had been able to calm the distraught young man and that he was now sitting quietly. She looked down at Jeff and smiled and kneeling down next to them, reached over to place a gently hand on Alan's blond hair. "They have him stabilized enough for surgery now, so they will be moving him in a few moments. I have a room set up for you to wait in and we have arranged security to monitor the entire hallway so you won't be disturbed."

"Thank you," Jeff said gratefully as he looked up at her. "We appreciate the trouble you have gone through for us."

Rising to their feet, all four followed the nurse as she led them down the corridors to an empty room. It was here that they would wait and pray that John and Brains would get there soon and that Scott would pull through surgery. For the hours of waiting ahead, Alexandra Jennings, the name of the nurse who had helped them, came in to check on them and give them updates on how the surgery was going.

She had smiled gently as Virgil apologized. She leaned over and placed a hand over his and squeezing it reassuringly said, "That's okay, Sweetie, I'd have done the same thing if it had been my brother in there. So there is no need to apologize." Then Nurse Jennings smiled at the others in the room and left to go back making her rounds.

* * *

Meanwhile, Brains had gotten Thunderbird Three docked with Five and had just unlocked the latch when he saw that John was already there. "I've put her on automatic and transferred everything down to Command so that it can be monitored from there. I've also made certain to let our contacts know that we are going to be out of commission for a while. At least until we are certain that our team member is okay."

"Th-th-that's fine," Brains said as he helped John to double check the systems and then get his gear ready for departure. As they walked from the control room of Five and made their way to the hatch for Three, Brain's noticed that John seemed paler than normal. Looking over at John, Brains asked, "J-jo-John, are you o-okay?"

Climbing into Three and securing his gear, John made his way to the cockpit of Three and began strapping himself in before he answered Brains. "I'm fine, Brains. I just need to get to Scotty. I'm not sure what to say and I'm just not wanting to talk. I just want to sit here and pray that my brother is okay and that he'll pull through, because I don't know if I will be able to deal if he doesn't."

"A-Al-okay, John," Brains said as he saw the shine of tears filling John's blue eyes. "We c-c-can do that."

Swiping a frustrated hand across his eyes, John finished getting Thunderbird Three ready for departure as Brain's finished up getting buckled in and fired the engines. Once the engines were fired, John disengaged Three from the docking port of Five and maneuvered Three for reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Before engaging the boosters that would send Three shooting towards Earth, John looked over at Brains.

"I'm sorry, Brains," John sighed. "I just feel like something is wrong. Something besides Scotty being hurt so badly."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Brains asked as he met John's troubled blue gaze.

"I don't know," John replied. "It's just how I feel. It doesn't make sense for me to feel that way, but that's the only way I know how to explain it."

Brains didn't know what to say, so he just nodded and reached over and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Then they both turned back to the console and fired the boosters that shot Three forward with blinding speed. Heading back to Earth and to the hospital where the waiting would begin.

* * *

Back at the hospital, the doctors worked frantically to get Scott stabilized enough for surgery. Once they'd managed their task, they immediately wheeled him from the exam room and into the waiting OR.

The operation lasted for six hours as the surgeons repaired the damage. By the time they had finished, Scott had flat lined three times, and they worked desperately to bring him back each time. After they had finished with surgery, the patient seemed to be holding his own, at least for now.

The lead surgeon sighed as he walked from the OR and rid himself of the bloody gloves and coverings before he made his way to the doors leading to the hallway. Dr. Steven Masters had been a surgeon for twenty-five years now and it never got easier having to tell a patient's family and friends bad news. The fact that he was about to go and tell his friend that his oldest boy was probably not going to make it, made this trek harder still.

Dr. Steven Masters had known Jeff Tracy for years. They had grown up together and had been best friends as children. Hell, they'd even raised a little hell as teenagers before they both graduated high school and college and went their separate ways. Jeff had headed to NASA and became an astronaut and Steven had headed to medical school.

The two of them had met back up a few years later and Steven had been the family doctor since. Hell, he'd delivered three of Jeff's five boys and it was killing him to see one of those boys badly injured and in his OR. Steven just thanked God that Scott was at least still breathing. Although that really wasn't saying much. Breathing and actually being alive were two different things and with as much damage as Scott had sustained, Steven wasn't sure that Scott would ever wake up again.

As he stopped outside the waiting room where his old friend was waiting, Steven bowed his head and silently prayed for God to give him strength to do this, then taking a deep breath he pushed the door open and walked solemnly inside.

* * *

The pain was blinding after Scott felt himself pulled from his mother's arms. There wasn't a place on his body that didn't hurt. He remembered briefly opening his eyes and seeing Gordon and Alan's worried faces and hearing his dad's voice before falling back into the darkness.

"Why can't I move and where the hell am I?" Scott thought as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. There was a silvery mist that covered the dark damp ground and leafless trees filled his view as night sounds filled his ears. Lifting his head slightly, Scott looked down his body and saw that there were vines and roots covering his body and that was the reason he couldn't move.

He immediately began to struggle, but the more he struggled the tighter the vines and roots became. It didn't hit him that he wasn't in any pain, until he stopped struggling and took some deep breaths. "What's going on?" He wondered as he lay there, trying to figure out what had happened after seeing his mother and then coming to with his brothers and father.

Suddenly, all sounds stopped and an eerie stillness filled the darkness around him. Scott even went still at the suddenness of it. A cold breeze filled the night and he shivered as the need to free himself became more urgent.

He struggled in vain as the coldness swept over him, filling him with a feeling of desperation and ramping up his panic. He strained against the vines holding him and he flung his head back as he tried to get enough room between him and the cold ground in order to maneuver.

He almost had a hand free, when he felt a cold finger stroke his cheek followed by hot breath as an insidious voice whispered, "Why struggle, my pet? There is no escape for you. You will belong to me and it doesn't matter if your mother sends a team of angels for you. You're mine."

Scott tried to turn his head away from the cold hand stroking his face, but he found that he couldn't move again. The vines around him began to tighten and he was having a hard time breathing. He could feel the hand moving along his neck now and he fought with everything in him to force air through his lungs. Scott continued to struggle in vain as the cold fingers closed over his throat and started to squeeze.

"NO!" Scott screamed, breathlessly. "Why are you doing this? Stop!"

As unconsciousness began to fill Scott's mind, a bright light illuminated the entire night sky and a scream erupted from the creature above him. Scott felt the cold fingers that had been choking the life from him disappear from his throat and the vines release their tight hold as the light blasted through the night and shattered the darkness with fire.

Before the fire consumed the dark creature above him, it bent down and in a evil-filled voice whispered, "I will be back for you, my pet. We are not done yet. You're mine." Then the blast of pure white light shattered the dark creature as it screamed and disappeared from Scott's sight before he closed his eyes to shield them from the brightness.

As the light dissipated, Scott slowly opened his eyes and kneeling beside him was a little girl who looked around eleven-years-old with long dark hair and beautiful amber doe eyes. She smiled down at him and before he could ask her who she was, she laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "You seem to have made a friend, but you need to learn how to pick them better. Demons really don't make good friends."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own the Thunderbird or their incredible machines that go really really fast. *sigh*

**A/N:** Sorry that it's taken me so long to get this posted, but real life has a way of slapping you upside the head so hard that your ancestors feel it sometimes. Just a quick note. I'm half Native American and there are a few references in here to some religious cultural things. I have, however, changed up a few things in order to go along with the story. I did not do this in order to offend anyone or give anyone a mistaken view of Native American beliefs. This is a fictional work and while some of the references are accurate others are made up and figments of my own twisted imagination. LOL. I hope that you enjoy this chapter because it's going to get interesting from here on out. Read up and ENJOY!

**CHAPTER 8**

Scott struggled to draw air into his lungs from where the creature had been strangling him as he watched the little girl reach down and begin removing the vines and roots restraining him. Once he was free, she sat down beside him and pulled his upper body onto her lap as she whispered, "It's okay, the doctors are working to help you, just keep fighting to breathe. You have to keep fighting."

Scott couldn't answer so he nodded to let the little girl know that he heard her, even though he had no idea what she was talking about. All he knew was that every breath he took was an effort and that he was beginning to feel like he was blacking out. "NO," the little girl cried out just as Scott's eyes started to close. "You have to keep fighting. If you don't then the demon wins and you will belong to him."

At the girl's cry, Scott forced his eyes open and looked up at her in confusion, but he could feel the evil surrounding them as his breathing became harder and harder to control. Fighting for every breath, Scott fought with everything in him to draw air into his lungs. Finally the burning pain from the lack of oxygen dissipated and he was able to breathe normally. As his breathing returned to normal, the shadows that kept creeping around them disappeared. "What the hell were they?" Scott wondered to himself as he pushed himself up and turned to look at the little girl who held him. Sitting up he noticed that she was a little thing. All long black hair and big eyes. Even with her being so dark he noticed something very ethereal about her. There seemed to be such a peacefulness surrounding her that if you slapped a pair of wings on her back she'd be an angel. Hell, Scott wasn't sure that she wasn't.

Giggling softly the little girl looked up at Scott. "No, I'm not an angel, crazy. My name is Emerald Summer, but you can call me Summer, and I'm nine-years-old. Your name is Scott Tracy and you were hurt trying to rescue people on a bridge. You have a father and four brothers who are sitting and pacing in a waiting room hoping for some news on how you're doing."

"How do you know all this?" Scott asked as he looked incredulously at Summer. "Where am I and how did I get here and last but not least, what the hel-heck was that thing choking me?"

"That was what I call a demon. They come after people that are trapped between the Shadowlands and Meadowlands," Summer replied as she shrugged and looked around them. "That particular demon really wants to take you with him. You need to be careful," she continued as she finally let her eyes rest on Scott's confused expression.

"So does that mean your trapped here in this place also?" Scott asked her while he tried to remember how he'd gotten here. The last thing he remembered was excruciating pain and being ripped from his mother's arms.

Smiling, Summer replied, "No silly, I'm what my Grandmother calls a Dreamwalker. Every generation there is one born in my family and I was the lucky one that got chosen by the Great Spirit to have this gift. I can come here anytime I want, whenever I sleep, and visit with the ones that are trapped here so that they aren't lonely while their journey is being decided by the Great Spirit."

"Journey?" Scott asked as he tried to get his fuzzy brain to work so that he'd understand. He guessed it was the lack of oxygen from being choked that made his head feel as if a sledgehammer was being slammed into it over and over. He really wished that he had an aspirin, but it didn't look to him like he was going to be getting one to soon. In fact he was actually beginning to feel a little panicky, which for him was saying something. Yeah, this was a little too weird for him right now. He really wanted to get back to his family and fast.

"Yes, the journey that decides whether you remain in the Shadowlands, go to the Meadowlands, or go back to your family," Summer explained as she watched Scott reach up and rub his temples. "My Grandmother says that most people that get trapped between both usually are there because there is a lesson that one needs to learn. I think that maybe you need to be here in order to learn something or see something that the Great Spirit feels you need to know."

Sighing deeply and pinching between his eyes, Scott eventually looked back up at the little girl and asked, "So how long will I be here and what do I do in the meantime?"

"That depends on the Great Spirit," Summer replied as she stood up and reached for Scott's hand. "Come on, Scott, there is something that you need to see."

Looking up at the ethereal girl reaching towards him, Scott sighed and right before he took her little hand in his big one, thought to himself, "Why not? I've obviously got nothing better to do and maybe I'll get some understanding from whatever it is she's going to show me."

The moment that her hand grabbed his, the pain in his head instantly vanished and he found himself standing in a waiting room. His dad and three brothers seemed to be nervously pacing the room when the door burst open and John came flying into the room where he was immediately embraced by their dad.

Looking at the scene before him, he looked down at the tiny girl holding his hand and whispered, "I take it they can't see us and they don't know we're here, right?"

Summer looked up at Scott with her big doe eyes and giggling said, "Wow, you learn quick, but no, they can't see us and they don't know we're here." She then sobered so suddenly that it was kinda startling. "Just watch and let yourself see. You have a fight ahead of you and what you witness here in this room will give you the strength you need to battle what's to come."

"You know, you really don't sound like a nine-year-old when you say that," Scott said as he turned back to his dad and brothers. "Can you tell me exactly what it is that I'm going to be fighting against or at least give me a hint?"

"Nope," Summer sighed. "That is for you to find out on your own, but I'll be here to help you because I've been sent as your guide on this journey."

"Why?" Scott asked. "What for?"

"I can't tell you," Summer whispered as she watched Scott's brothers embrace their newly arrived brother. "Just watch, Scott, and be sure to pay attention to everything, it will be very important that you understand what's happening in this room."

Taking a deep breath, Scott looked on as his family embraced each other. He jumped a little as the door to the waiting room was once again opened and in walked Dr. Steven Masters who was his dad's longtime friend and the family's main doctor. Scott noticed that the Doc looked strained and tired as he walked slowly over to his dad.

Scott saw his dad and brothers go still as statues, as Doc Steven lifted his grim face to look at them. "Jeff, he's alive for the moment, but Jeff," Steven said as he swallowed noisily, "It's bad, it's really bad."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Thunderbirds. *sigh*

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long, been on vacation and OMG did I need one. Hope you enjoy it and there's more to come very soon. Happy reading

**CHAPTER 9**

Jeff stopped breathing. He literally felt himself stop breathing as Doc's words hit him like a gut blow. He knew that Steven never looked like this unless it was critical and didn't look promising.

Taking a deep breath, Jeff finally pushed the words out that had caught in his throat. "What are we looking at, Steven? What are my son's chances?"

The occupants of the waiting room didn't move a muscle as Doc Steven looked around the room and finally back at his long time friend, Jeff. Closing his eyes for a moment he thought to himself, "God, this is killing me to have to tell him this. How do I tell my friend that his son might never wake up again. A boy that I held in my arms when he was first born and took care of his whole life. Oh God, help me do this right."

Opening his eyes, Doc looked at Jeff and said, "Jeff, I need for you and the boys to sit down."

"HELL NO," John said sharply. "I prefer to stand."

Jeff opened his mouth to reprimand John, but Doc Steven held up his hand stopping him and said, "Let it go, Jeff. I know your Johnny-boy is stressed and it's okay. If he wants to stand then that's fine."

After a second or two of Jeff looking sharply at John to let him know that he would be getting it later on, Jeff sat down on one of the couches. Virgil sat in the chair, while Gordon and Alan sat down on the couch beside their Dad.

John seeing his Dad's look, solemnly walked over and stood beside the chair and reached a hand over to lay it on Virgil's shoulder, but he didn't know if it was to comfort him, Virgil or them both. As Doc Steven started talking, Gordon reached over and clasped Alan's hand. Gripping it tightly as he felt his brother's shoulders begin to shake as tears leaked from their baby brother's eyes at Doc's diagnosis and prognosis of Scott's condition.

"Scott has multiple injuries. The one to his leg nicked the femoral artery, but we were able to get it patched up and it looks good so far. The ribs and punctured lung we were able to also fix up. We have him hooked up to a respirator so that the machine can breathe for him until we are certain that he can breathe on his own. The burns weren't as bad as we first thought, but they are substantial. There will be some scarring but nothing like we first thought and most of the scarring will be along his upper back and shoulder area. Only a few will scar as the majority turned out to be only second degree burns. We got real damn lucky on that one, Jeff. Scott wouldn't have survived this long if they had been worse. The burns to the rest of his body and especially to his face, were first and second degree, so we got lucky there too.

The most worrisome injuries are to his head and his neck. As you know, the chances of complications is great with these types of injuries. The head injury has caused a large skull fracture and created a sizeable bleed, which we were able to get under control for the moment. I placed in a drain to help with the pressure and to hopefully keep the swelling to a minimum. We are going to be watching it and do our best to keep down the swelling.

The blow to his head was such a forceful impact that it caused a neck fracture. Scott's cervical spine was affected in the area of C-5. There is a lot of swelling and it appears that it's only a fracture of the vertebra, but once the swelling reduces a little, we can tell more. I've called in a specialist friend of mine and he is going to be letting us know if the actual spinal cord was affected at all. If the cord was affected, you all know the impact it will have on his life from this moment on. Paralysis would definitely be a big factor.

Paralysis from this high in the cervical spine will affect him from the neck down, and possibly affect his ability to talk or breathe on his own. We just don't know how bad it is until the swelling from the surgery goes down enough to see. We are trying to keep that swelling at a minimal also, so that if the cord isn't affected we can keep it that way. We have him in a halo, to keep his head and neck stabilized so movement will be difficult. We sure as hell don't need Scott to move at this point."

Doc didn't take his eyes from Jeff as he took a deep calming breath and told his best friend the news that he was dreading to deliver. "The head trauma has caused Scott to slip into a coma. Jeff, I'm not going to lie to you. With the lack of oxygen and the other injuries, we're not sure if he will pull through or ever wake up, at this point. There is very little brain activity, but the good news is that there is signs of it."

Jeff's head fell into his hands as he couldn't hold back the tears any longer and Doc pulled his chair closer and reached to place a comforting hand on his friend's bowed head. John had fallen to his knees beside Virgil and wrapped his arms around his brother as they both fought to hold back their own tears as the extent his their big brother's injuries hit them. Gordon was the only one with dry eyes as he held Alan in his arms as sobs racked his baby brother.

"I'm going to lose my boy aren't I, Steven?" Jeff asked as he finally looked back up at his friend.

"NO!" Gordon yelled, jumping to his feet. He stood with his fists balled, looking down at his brothers and Doc. "We are NOT going to lose Scotty. I won't allow it. I will not give up on my brother. He was there for me my whole life, for OUR whole lives. He didn't give up on me or allow me to give up on myself after my hydrofoil accident so I will be damned if I'm going to give up on my brother or let any of you give up on him either!"

"You're right, Son," Jeff said as he stood and pulled Gordon into his arms and then turned back to his friend.

Making eye contact with Jeff, Doc nodded and stood up to place his own hand on Gordon's back as he made them all a promise. "I hate that I can't do more, Jeff, or at least tell you if he'll survive or not. The only thing that I can do is promise you that I will do everything humanly possible to bring that boy back to you and make him as whole as I can. I will tell you this, however, his chances of surviving go up with every hour that he's stable. I usually don't do this, but I know how much that boy loves you and these brothers of his, so I'm going to let all of you see him and sit with him for short periods of time. Let him know you're there and that he needs to keep fighting. If there's one thing that I know about your Scotty, Jeff, it's that he's a damn good fighter. If anyone can survive this, I know that he can."

From the far corner of the room, a tiny hand reached and clasped the hand of the young man beside her as he fell to his knees. Tears fell from his cobalt blue eyes as he whispered, "I won't give up, Gordy, I swear it." Then he turned to the little girl beside him and said, "I know what I have to fight for now. I understand it now."

"I'm glad, Scotty," the tiny girl whispered. "Because now your fight truly begins."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them.

**CHAPTER 10**

Summer looked up at Scott as he got back to his feet and said, "I have to leave you for a while, but you will have to go back to the Shadowlands. Don't worry," she continued as she saw Scott's eyes fill with slight panic, "I'll be back but you need to be on guard."

"So, that means that my nasty friend will be back, huh?" Scott asked.

"Probably," Summer replied. "You just have to remember what you saw in here and he can't hurt you or take you with him."

"I don't understand why he wants me so much," Scott said as he looked down at her. "And why what I saw in this waiting room will keep him from taking me. I mean, I know what I'm fighting for, and that's to get back to my family, but what else am I missing?"

"Just trust that you know what to do when the time comes and that you will do the right thing and make the right choice," Summer said as she let go of his hand and began to fade.

There was a slight moment of disorientation and then Scott found himself alone and back in the dark Shadowlands. Sighing to himself, he stood a moment to get his bearings, but then his Air Force and IR survival training kicked in and he started walking. If he was going to be fighting this demon thingy, then he needed to get to know the territory and get his battle plan ready. "Damn," Scott said to himself as he started forward. "Of all the shitty things that I could get myself into, I sure know how to pick'em."

* * *

Taking his hand and stroking it through Gordon's hair, Doc leaned close and whispered, "Let me go see how your Scott is doing and I'll let you guys know when you can come in to see him."

"O-okay," Gordon responded with a trembling voice as he turned his head from his Dad's shoulder and looked over at Doc.

Doc smiled at Gordon, then turned and met Jeff's troubled gaze once more before he turned and walked from the waiting room.

"Come on, Son," Jeff said as he led Gordon back to the couch.

Gordon sat down next to Alan and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "It's okay, Alan. Scotty will pull through. He's our big bro and he'd never leave us like that."

It seemed like forever before Doc came back into the room. He told them that Scott was stable enough to be moved into ICU from Recovery and that they could all go in to see him for a few minutes once they got him settled.

They all got up and slowly walked down the corridors until they reached the ICU unit. Once there several security guards were standing but they let them pass as Doc Steven nodded towards them. As they walked into the room the all stopped suddenly when they noticed a beautiful little girl sitting in a chair beside Scott's still form holding his hand.

"Summer, you know better than to be out of bed and disturbing other patients." Doc gently reprimanded her.

It was apparent that the little girl was a patient too. The IV pole attached to her was a dead giveaway, but she smiled gently and in a whispered voice replied, "I was only keeping him company until his family got here, Doc."

"Well, they are here with him now. So you need to get back to your room and get some rest, young lady," Doc said as he went over and placed a hand on her slight shoulder. "I would also like to know how you got past security in order to even be in here?"

Jeff, being the first to walk into the room, saw the little girl holding his son's hand gently in her little one. He didn't understand why he wasn't angry that there was some stranger holding his son's hand. It was probably the fact that she was so tiny and looked like some ethereal angel sent to watch over his Scotty, which made it impossible for him to be mad.

He smiled at her as he walked forward and placed a gentle hand of his own alongside his son's cheek. "Hi there, I'm Jeff and this is Virgil, Gordon, John and Alan, and this is my oldest son Scott. I want to thank you for keeping him company for us until we got here to be with him. It was really nice of you to do that," Jeff said as he stroked Scott's cheek as he smiled down at Summer.

"Your welcome, and it's really nice to meet you. I'm Emerald Summer, but everyone calls me Summer," the little girl said as she returned Jeff's smile.

The others, having been shocked to stillness as they took in the condition of their big brother lying so still in the bed, didn't even notice the little girl until Jeff had told her their names. Each brother then walked slowly over and smiled at the girl before turning back to Scott's still form.

"Um, Summer, you never answered my question," Doc said as he pulled her attention back to him. "How did you get past the security and get in here?"

"Security?" Summer asked in that innocent little tone as she cocked her head to one side. "I didn't see any security. I have no idea what your talking about, Doc," she said as she smiled sweetly and batted her long lashes at him.

Gordon snickered as the others tried hard to hide their amusement at Summer's display of innocence to Doc's question.

Frowning slightly in order to hide his own amusement, Doc said, "Sum-mer."

"What's up, Doc?" she asked, giggling a little. "Oh come on, it's not like I'm some big huge terrorist or something. I was only keeping him company and making sure that he didn't get scared."

Jeff and his sons laughed slightly at her reply, but sobered up when one of the monitors attached to Scott suddenly gave a shrill beep. Panicking, Jeff reached for Scott, but Summer took his hand instead as Doc checked Scott's vitals.

"It's okay, he's still stable it was only the pressure cuff giving us a new reading. He's okay Jeff, I promise," Doc reassured not only Jeff but the Tracy sons.

Jeff felt Summer squeeze his hand gently. It was funny how just a little slip of a girl could ease the tension he'd been holding on too with just that slight squeeze. "God Lucy," Jeff said to himself as he smiled down at Summer, "She has a way about her that reminds me so much of you. I really wish you were here. Our boy needs you and I need you, too."

Hopping down from the chair she'd been sitting in, Summer let go of Jeff's hand asked him if it would be okay if she came back to visit with Scott. Jeff smiled and told her that she could. Summer grinned brightly and leaned over to kiss Scott gently on the cheek and whispered something in his ear before straightening back up. Then she turned back to the others and smiled at them. She then beckoned Gordon to her.

Cocking his head slightly, Gordon went over to her and she looked up at him with her big doe eyes and asked, "You're Gordy, right?"

"Yep, that's me," Gordon replied as he tried to figure out how she knew to call him Gordy.

Reaching up she tugged him closer and leaned in towards his ear and in a small whisper that only Gordon could hear said, "Scott said that he won't give up, Gordy, and that he swears it."

Shaken, Gordon pulled away slightly so that he could see Summer's face as tears began to fill his eyes. He then went to one knee and pulled her small frame into his arms and hugged her gently. He whispered a shaky, "thank you", then released her and watched as Doc took her hand and led her out of the ICU unit and headed back towards her room.

"Are you okay, Gordy?" John asked as he helped Gordon to his feet. "What did she say to upset you?"

"Nuh- Nothing," Gordon said as he let his brother pull him into his arms. Gordon's gaze went to Scott. "Nothing at all."


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: **I still don't own the Thunderbirds, and I still wish that I did.

** A/N:** Just want to give a BIG HUGE THANKS to Sam1 for being the bestest evil twin and beta I could ask for. To all the wonderful people that are reading this story and reviewing. THANK YOU for the reviews and KEEP READING! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

** CH****APTER 11**

Scott walked around in the ever growing darkness, gathering up items for a shelter, and things he would need to make a weapon. He hoped that he wouldn't need it, but if that demon was as determined as Summer said it was then he needed all the help he could get. "Damn," Scott said grimly. "I should have paid more attention to that Supernatural show that Gordy loves so much. I have no idea how to fight a demon."

Scott remembered watching a few episodes with Gordon. Gordon had been recovering from his hydrofoil accident at the time, and Scott had been sitting with him making sure that he didn't get bored. Smiling to himself, Scott remembered that a bored Gordon was a force to be reckoned with.

That little brother of his could get into the biggest of messes, but always seemed to find his way out of it smelling like a rose. Scott just wished that he knew how to do that himself. "Maybe I'll ask him to give me lessons, if I ever get out of this," Scott said to himself as walked back to the spot he'd picked out to place his shelter.

He had just finished putting the last touches on his shelter, when it suddenly grew quiet. Extremely quiet. So quiet that the hair on the back of Scott's neck prickled and shivers ran up along his skin. Scott went still and looked around him with all his senses on high alert, trying to gauge what was out there in the surrounding darkness.

Nothing moved. Not even the wind blew through the dead trees, and the water from the brook he'd found seemed to be muted as well. "What the hell is going on?" Scott asked himself as he continued to scan the area. "What's out there?"

He saw something coming at him from the corner of his eye. Before he could react, he found himself flying through the air and landing hard on his side, knocking the breath from him. Breathless, Scott immediately rolled and shoved himself to his feet and turned to face the next attack, but saw nothing in front of him.

He started to turn his head when he again caught a movement of darkness coming from his peripheral vision. Before he could turn toward the oncoming attack, he was again thrown through the air and landing on his back this time. "Okay, now I'm getting really pissed," Scott growled through his clenched teeth as he started to push himself up. He stopped halfway to sitting, as his brain and Air Force training kicked in. He realized that there was something about these attacks that he just couldn't figure out.

Knowing that he was leaving himself open for another attack, he tried to figure out what he was missing. There had to be a pattern to the attacks that he wasn't seeing. "Wait," Scott thought to himself as something suddenly dawned on him and had the pieces to this particular puzzle falling into place. "It's always attacking from my blind side, but I always catch a glimpse of it from my peripheral before it happens."

Realizing what he had to do, Scott pushed to his feet and as he straightened up prepared himself for another attack. He had lifted a broken tree branch from the ground and held it close to his side as he rose up. As soon as he had his balance he caught the dark movement again from his peripheral vision and without even thinking for a second swung with all his might to that side.

The branch connected and a rage filled scream of pain enveloped the dark sky. Scott knew that the demon, in order to actually attack him, had to become a solid mass instead of that inky black exhaust looking stuff. So he'd taken a chance that his makeshift club would actually connect. The branch broke and the momentum spun Scott around causing him to trip on a tree root and fall. He fell face first but caught himself and rolled, placing his feet under him so that he was facing the demon and he rose to a crouch.

Seeing the demon writhing on the ground a few steps away from him, Scott looked around for another weapon. Finding a rock with a significantly sharp edge to it, Scott picked it up but never took his eyes off the creature on the ground. "Aww," Scott smirked as he stepped towards the demon. "I bet that didn't tickle, now did it?"

Raising the rock above his head, Scott made to slam it down on the demon's head, but right before it connected the demon disappeared and reappeared a few feet behind him. Scott spun around expecting to be attacked, but the demon just stared at him with a cold rage in its glowing red eyes. It suddenly became solid again and in a somewhat human looking form, before it spoke.

"You think that you have all the answers, Scott Tracy, but you don't. You will eventually let down your guard and I'll be there to take your soul when you do. You're going to be my greatest victory. Bringing down the oldest son of the great Jeff Tracy is going to be the one thing that will give my Master a reason to let me go. I'm going to replace myself as his servant with you, my pet. You're going to be my salvation and I'm going to send you to a hell you will never escape from."

The demon laughed before continuing. "My Master will enjoy breaking you. You will do horribly evil things and I'll be on the other side, watching your soul destroy itself bit by bit. So enjoy this short reprieve, my pet, I will be back and you will not be so lucky the next time." With those words echoing into the darkness around them, the demon dissolved and disappeared from sight.

"O-okay then," Scott sighed as he dropped to the ground trembling from the adrenaline leaving his body. Letting his head hang for a few moments he tried to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes and what the demon had told him.

"Summer, I could really use some help here. I have no idea what I'm dealing with and how to fight this thing. Oh, and God, Great Spirit, or whoever you are, I really don't want to be here anymore and would like to go home now, if you don't mind," Scott said as he paused and waited a moment to see if he would get some sign or answer. Nothing changed in those few moments, so with a sigh he said, "Yeah, I had a feeling that you'd say that. A big ole NOTHING!"

Pushing himself back to his feet, he made his way slowly back towards his shelter. He knew that it was going to be a long time before he got any sleep. He knew that he needed it so that he could function, but with that thing out there looking to take his soul, he just wasn't sure he'd be able to get any. He was also feeling the bruises forming on his body from being thrown around like a rag doll. "Yep, he thought to himself, it's definitely going to be a long night. That is if time here was the same as it was back in the real world."

Getting back to his shelter, he started a small fire and crawled over to the bedding of leaves and moss he'd made and lay down. He decided that catnaps were probably going to be the best thing, in case that demon came back. So, Scott closed his eyes and tried to sleep as the eerie sounds of the Shadowlands filled the darkness.

* * *

Back in the hospital ICU unit, Jeff and his sons all waited impatiently as the nurses and Doc Steven worked on Scott. His vitals had started to drop and he had begun to convulse, but seemed to be much better now as everyone worked on him. John and Virgil had held him down the best they could so that he wouldn't injure himself more until the nurses and Doc had come rushing in. Once Doc and the nurses had arrived they made them all step outside while they worked on Scott and checked him over to see what was causing it.

Virgil, being the most medically trained, immediately worried about Scott's airway and his neck fracture. He didn't say anything to the others, because everyone was stressed enough as it was, but he was seriously concerned. He just prayed that Scott hadn't hurt himself further during the convulsions.

After a few minutes, Doc came out and told Jeff and Scott's brother's that he was stable again and that he couldn't explain what had happened. Nobody seemed to be able to tell them what had happened. "Everything looks fine, Jeff," Doc said as he raked a hand through is graying brown hair. "He's been stable since the surgery and there are no signs of anything causing him distress. All his vitals are good now, and he's basically still the same. He's still holding his own, so we'll just keep a closer eye out and see if it happens again. Hopefully it won't, but with the types of injuries we're dealing with, we just don't know what could happen at this point."

Jeff didn't say anything as he listened to Doc. He was too upset and his throat wouldn't work because he was fighting to hold back the tears and fear that he was losing his son. He looked up as Doc placed a hand on his shoulder. "You and the boys head on back in there, Jeff. He's stable now, and he seems to be more stable when you and the boys are with him."

Nodding slightly to his boys, Jeff hung back as John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan made their way back into the room. Jeff watched as each brother leaned over and touched Scott's face, before leaning over to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. Normally, none of his boys would be caught dead showing that kind of affection in a public place, but when one of them was hurt, that was a whole other story.

Looking from the scene in the room, Jeff looked back at his old friend and finally finding some semblance of a voice, whispered "Thank you, Steven. You have no idea how glad I am that you are here." Then turning Jeff Tracy made his way back into the ICU unit and to Scott's side where he lifted his son's hand, placed a gentle kiss on it, and then leaned down to his ear. "Come back to us, Scotty," Jeff whispered. "Please come back to us."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own the Thunderbirds and still wish that I did. *sigh*

**A/N:** I'm sooooo very sorry that it's taken me so long to get this posted. Life is trying to kick me in my gluteus maximus. LOL. SPECIAL THANKS to Sam1 for all your help and advice and betaing…YOU SO ROCK! To all those who are reading this story and have been reviewing, again, sorry for the delay. I will definitely do better on the next chapter. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. ENJOY because there are a lot of surprises to come!

**CHAPTER12**

The click and hiss of the respirator was a continuous background noise the entire evening as everyone took turns sitting with Scott. Jeff, Virgil, Gordon, and Alan had all gone down the hall to a room that the hospital had set up for them to rest in while John took his turn watching over Scott.

He'd been sitting there for hours just watching his normally active brother lying still and praying that he would wake up. John gingerly lifted Scott's hand and placed it in his. It was hard sitting there waiting for a movement or just some sign that Scott was still with them. "You know that I can't take care of our little brothers without you, Scotty," John said as he looked at his brother's sleeping face. "I need you to wake up and be okay." Tears filled his eyes and spilled forth to slide slowly down his cheeks. "Please wake up."

John continued to cry silently as he recalled what he'd overheard Doc Steven tell his Dad earlier that morning. He had left the room to go get some coffee and a chocolate bar from the cafeteria. As he walked out of the elevator he saw Doc and his Dad standing in the hall. John didn't want to interrupt, so he slipped around the corner and stood there to listen as Doc gave his dad the grim news.

"_Jeff, I want to tell you that he'll wake up and be fine and that he will come out of this coma with no lasting effects, but I can't. There are still no strong signs of brain activity. The amount of activity that we do have is only enough to show up on the monitors. I can't lie to you, Jeff. Not to you or the boys. At this point, I am only keeping him on the respirator because there is a small sign of activity. If the activity drops below what it is now, I will have to declare him clinically brain dead. I will promise you that I will keep him on the life support until the swelling goes down and we see where we're at. As I said before, if he doesn't show an improvement, then I will have to make that call. If that happens, you will have a big decision to make. I'm sorry, Jeff, but that's all I can do."_

_As John watched, Jeff's head dropped and his hands came up to cover his face. It took him a few moments, but when he looked up he was the strong Jeff Tracy that everyone knew. Only John could tell that he was fighting the pain as he shook Doc's hand and said, "I know that you will do everything you can, Steven. Thank you for telling me straight and not beating around the bush. If the time comes to make that decision, me and the boys will do it. It will kill us all, but we will do what's best for our Scotty." After he'd finished saying that, Jeff embraced his friend and then walked slowly past the posted guards and back into the ICU unit. Doc Steven had watched him go then turned around to walk back to his office. _

John had stood there watching Doc walk down the hall. His heart hurt so bad that it felt like someone was ripping it from his chest. In that moment he wished that he hadn't heard any of the conversation, but remembering it now, he was glad that he had. At least now he knew what they were working against.

"I'm not going to let you go that easily, big brother," he whispered as he lifted Scott's hand to his cheek and held it there. Letting his tears flow freely and cover his brother's hand with their wetness. "I just can't." Then John lay his head down beside their entwined hands and closed his eyes.

John never heard the door open. So caught up in his grief and pain, he never heard the tiny footfalls as they approached him and came to a stop at his side. He never knew someone else was there until a tiny hand brushed against his cheek and a little voice whispered, "Don't cry, John. It will be okay, if you just keep faith in your brother and his love for all of you. You have to believe that he will awaken. Believe with everything in you."

Jerking up with a gasp, John nearly fell out of the chair as he realized that he had been sleeping. He looked around trying to find the source of the voice he'd heard, but there was no one there. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't losing it. That it had all been a dream, but he could still feel where the small hand had touched his face and that voice had been way too real.

Sighing, he looked down at his watch and saw that it was still an hour before the sun came up. So he lay his head back down, closed his eyes, and tried to fall back to sleep as he still kept a loose hold on Scott's hand.

A soft voice slowly penetrated his sleep-addled brain but he didn't feel any threat to him or his big brother. Straining his ears, John kept his eyes closed as he tried to place the whispering voice. After listening for a bit, he still couldn't place the voice which for some reason didn't freak him out. He gave up and opened his eyes. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of the little girl from the day before sitting on the bed next to his big brother. She read to Scott from a hardcover book that took up her lap.

"Hi there, he said as he lifted his head and smiled at her. "You're Summer, right?"

"Yes sir," Summer replied as she looked up and smiled back at John. "I didn't mean to wake you, but I wanted to read him. My grandmother brought this book for me so that I didn't get bored. I know that Scott is still sleeping but I thought reading to him would keep him from getting bored."

"That's okay," John reassured her as he sat up and reached a hand over to brush a hand through what was left of Scott's hair. The surgery had required it to be shaved so that they could repair the damage from blow to his head. Yeah, his big brother was so not going to like having one side of his head bald. "You didn't wake me."

"Oh good." She smiled. "I was hoping that you'd say that. You don't mind if I stay and read to him some more, do you? I don't want to have Doc come in here and have a hissy fit that I woke you or I'm bothering you." Summer giggled as she ducked her head and looked up and John through her lashes. "It would be funny though. He makes funny faces when he's upset or angry."

John laughed to himself as he remembered him and his brothers thinking the same thing about Doc Steven. "I don't mind if you stay and read to Scotty. I think that it's a great idea, as long as you're not going to tire yourself out by doing so. Does Doc know you're in here?"

"Nope," Summer replied as she grinned mischievously. "But he'll eventually figure out that the pillow under the sheet and the black wig isn't me and come looking."

"Holy crap," John thought to himself as he laughed at the girls antics. "She and Gordy would make a scary pair for sure." After finally catching his breath from laughing, John looked over at Summer and asked, "What exactly are you reading to my big brother?"

"Twilight," Summer replied as she held up the book to show him the cover. The voices of several men preceded the sound of the door being opened.

Jeff and his other three sons came to an abrupt stop at the scene before them. John was lying on the floor laughing hysterically and a little girl stood off to his side. She glared down at the blond haired man like she was ready to beat the crap out of him.

She stomped her little foot and demanded, "What's so funny about Twilight?"

Wiping the tears of laughter from his face, John finally managed to pull himself back up into his chair. It was a struggle but he finally got his laughter under control. The mischievous Tracy tried to keep a serious look as he turned to Virgil. "Virg, I always knew Johnny was a lightweight but to be taken out by a little girl. That's really sad."

Alan and Virgil laughed at both the comment and John's indignant expression. Gordon grinned at his older brother. "Just telling the truth, Johnny." Turning his attention to Summer, he extended his hand. "I just have to shake the hand of the little girl who laid my big brother out."

Giggling, Summer reached out and shook Gordon's hand. "Yeah, well, he made fun of the book that I'm reading to Scotty."

The Tracy men didn't bother to hide their laughter. There was something about the little girl who put each of them at ease and managed to say the right thing, at the right time. For Jeff, her presence in the room gave him hope for his Scotty. He felt that – and how he didn't know – she was going to be very instrumental in Scott's recovery. As long as she didn't risk her health or Scott's, he didn't care what she read to his son.

"Are you supposed to be in here, Summer?" Jeff asked as he went over to kneel in front of her. "I don't want you to get into trouble with Doc, or make yourself sick by being in here."

"I'm supposed to be in here, but Doc doesn't know it." She shrugged her little shoulders. "He'll probably be a little upset that I'm not in my room. Doc just doesn't understand that I get sicker staying in my room cause I get bored." Rolling her eyes, she sighed as only children can do when they're trying to point out what should be obvious to everyone. "I'm much better off being in here and reading to Scotty."

Jeff and the others couldn't help but smile at that. They all knew that they themselves felt the same way when they were laid up with some injury or sickness. Funny how just having something to do other than laying up in the infirmary or their rooms always helped them heal quicker. And here they thought it was just a Tracy trait.

Suddenly the alarms on the monitors attached to Scott started blaring but grew quiet as Summer reached over and in her little voice said, "It's okay, Scotty, I'll read to you some more. You just rest and get better. The dark won't get you while we're here so get some sleep." She then climbed back up on the bed where she had been sitting before, opened up her book and started to read.

Everyone else in the room just stood there in stunned silence until they realized that Scott's vitals were stabilizing. "Now, that was just freaky," Virgil thought. He glanced up at the monitors above and behind Scott's bed. Shuddering a little, he got the feeling that this wasn't the first time that Summer had stabilized his oldest brother. In fact, from what he had observed when she was near, Scott's vitals seemed more stable.

As the last alarm quieted, Doc and several nurses rushed into the room. They all went over and checked Scott's vitals and the readings on the monitors, but seemed to relax when they saw that he was stable. "Does someone want to tell me what happened here?" Doc asked. When met with several shrugs and a muttered, "I don't know," he turned to Summer. "Why are you in here and not in your room, young lady? You've just had a treatment and need to be resting and not bothering Mr. Tracy."

"I am resting," she replied, innocently from John's lap. He had picked her up when the doctor and nurses had responded to the alarms. "See," she said, leaning back against John's chest, "and I wasn't bothering anyone. I was just reading my book to Scotty so that he didn't feel scared while his brothers and daddy slept."

For some reason, John felt the need to defend her. "She wasn't bothering us at all, Doc."

Virgil quickly came to the girl's defense as well. "In fact, Scotty seems to be much better when she's reading to him."

"It's true, Steven," Jeff replied. "Scott did seem to stabilize the minute she started reading to him. If it's okay and she doesn't do anything to hurt herself or make herself sick, she can stay and read to Scotty all she wants."

Doc looked around the room and saw all the Tracy men nodding in agreement. Sighing, he relented, "Okay, Summer, you can stay as long as you rest and not move around too much. If you start to feel sick then you have to tell me or one of the Tracys. Then, it's back to your room. The treatment you received sometimes makes people sick at first so you have to be careful, okay?"

"Okay Doc, I promise," she said, smiling up at him.

"Alright, so tell me what your reading to my patient here before I leave," Doc said as he reached over to tap the end of her pert little nose.

"Twilight," Summer replied. She felt the slight tremors in John's body as he tried to hold back his laughter. He actually managed to not grin as she frowned up at him. He did well until Doc burst out laughing. Shaking his head, he walked out of the room. Summer's words following him. "Stop laughing, it's a good book."

Huffing and turning back around and sliding from John's lap, Summer turned to the rest of the room's occupants and said, "Fine, laugh all you want, but Scotty loves this story." Then turning back to Scott, she finished with, "Isn't that right, Scotty?"

* * *

Scott drifted in and out of sleep as he lay in his makeshift shelter. It seemed strange, but the darkness didn't seem so dark since his last fight with the demon. It actually seemed to be a little more lighter. Enough that he could actually see his hand in front of his face now.

Lying back and staring up at the dead branches that made up the roof of his shelter, Scott could almost swear he could hear someone talking. It took him a few moments before he actually figured out exactly who's voice he was hearing. "John?" His heart pounding he jerked up on his elbows. "Was he actually hearing his brother?"

"Yep, that is definitely John's voice I hear," he thought to himself.

After a few more moments, he heard the angelic lilt of Summer's voice and he pushed himself up to listen more closely. "What the hell is she saying?" He focused on what she was saying. "Is she reading a book?"

As he listened, he could hear her talking about some guy named Edward, a girl named Bella, and some dude named Jacob. She was telling John that she thought that he was the hottest. Scott didn't know if she was talking about his brother at first or the character in the book, until he heard her say, "I'm so a Team Jacob fan."

"My God, what is she reading me?" Scott wondered as he shook his head trying to figure out why he found himself in this predicament. It took a few more moments before he figured it out and realized that it was that story "Twilight" that Tin-Tin had been talking about one day last week. Yeah, Tin-Tin was Team Jacob too, if he recalled correctly. Seemed to be all she talked about and it had been pissing Alan off royally.

Scott laughed to himself, that is until he realized he was never going to live this down if he ever got out of this alive because his brothers were definitely going to have a field day teasing him about it.

Sighing to himself, he knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He slowly lay back down and after a few moments of listening, he drifted into a restful sleep as his exhaustion finally caught up with him.


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Thunderbirds or the wonder machines they fly. I wish I did, but I don't.

**WARNING: THE A/N IS RECEIVING A DIABETIC WARNING!**

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I promise I will do my best to get the next chapter posted soon. I'm already working on it.

To all the reviewers a big shout out of THANK YOU! Your words keep me inspired.

To my friend and evil twin Sam1, You're the bombdiggity of all betas! LOL!

Now enough of the mushy stuff... Get to reading! :)

**CHAPTER 13**

John stayed in Scott's room for a little while longer before deciding that he wanted to go rest and try to get some more sleep. He leaned over his injured brother and whispered something in his ear. Turning his attention to his dad and brother, he sighed. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Would one of you come and wake me if anything changes with Scotty?" He received a verbal affirmative from his dad and nods of the head from his brothers. Satisfied, he walked from the room and down the hall to one of two rooms that had been set up for their use. Then he walked from the room and down the corridor to one of the rooms that had been set up for them to use. John made his way over to the bed, kicking his shoes off and falling onto the bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Summer had also gone back to her room to eat and to get some rest also. She curled up on the bed with her favorite stuffed Wolf and closed her eyes. Her grandmother, who had just arrived, rubbed her back and sang to her. She fell into a deep sleep as the treatment meds finally kicked in making her feel sick and weak. Doc checked on her and saw that she had fallen asleep. He talked with her grandmother before leaving to resume his rounds.

After eating lunch, Virgil sat in a chair next to Scott's bed and held his hand. Jeff leaned closer from his chair on the opposite side of the bed. He whispered something softly near his son's ear before he kissed Scott's forehead. Alan and Gordon sat quietly near the door. Alan watched his dad and Virgil as they periodically checked the monitors. Suddenly, a really bad feeling came over him but he couldn't quite figure out what was causing it. The only thing that he knew was that it had something to do with John.

"Dad," Alan said from his chair by the door, "would you mind if Gordy and I go check on John? I feel like something's wrong and I really need to check on him."

"What do you mean, Alan?" Virgil asked as Jeff looked up and started to say something.

"I don't know," Alan replied, "I just feel that I need to go check on him."

"Alan, I'm sure that Johnny is fine," Jeff said. "He just went to go get some more rest so I'm sure he's just sleeping."

"I know, Dad, but I really need to go check on him," Alan sighed as he slumped back in the chair.

Seeing how upset and disturbed Alan was, Jeff consented. "Okay Alan, you and Gordy go check, but you make sure to let him know that you're just checking on him and that Scotty is okay."

"Will do, Dad," Alan replied as he grabbed Gordon's wrist and pulled his brother to his feet and made for the door.

"Dang, Alan, slow down," Gordon said as he tried to keep up with his baby brother's swift pace. "Where's the fire?"

"Just hurry, Gordon. I just feel like something is really, really wrong and I want to be sure that Johnny is okay," Alan said as he pulled Gordon along almost at a run.

"What could be wrong with Johnny?" Gordon asked as they finally made it to the door of the room John was in." He just came to get some more sleep. I mean he was fine when he left Scotty, so why do you feel something is wrong?"

"I don't know, Gordon," Alan said as he pushed the door open. "But let's just make sure, okay?"

Sighing at his little brother's anxious behavior, Gordon followed Alan into the room and walked quietly over to the bed where John looked to be sleeping deeply.

"Johnny," Alan whispered as he shook his brother gently to wake him. "Johnny, wake up."

There wasn't a response and Alan looked over at Gordon as the panicky feeling got stronger.

Shaking John harder this time, Alan and Gordon, both, called his name again and still received no response. Alan's panic quickly spread to the normally jovial Tracy brother.

After a few more tries with no response from John, Alan looked up at Gordon with panic filled eyes and said, "Oh God, Gordy! Go get help. Something's really wrong!"

Gordon didn't hesitate to run out the of the room and down the hallway towards the nurses' station, as Alan continued to try to wake his brother.

Doc Steven was at the nurses' station and looked up sharply as Gordon ran towards him calling his name. "Doc, Doc, Come quick! Something's wrong with Johnny! He won't wake up!"

Doc immediately set down the paperwork he was going over and took off back towards the room there down the hall. Gordon leading the way.

Jeff, having heard the commotion outside the ICU unit, walked over to the door and looked out just in time to hear Gordon say something was wrong with John. Jeff immediately turned back to Virgil, who had stood up from his chair by Scotty's beside, and said in a voice laced with panic, "I'll be right back, Virg. You stay with Scotty. I'm going to see what's going on."

"Okay, Dad, but let me know what's happening," Virgil said as he reached over and clasped Scott's hand and sat back down as his dad flung a quick, "I will," over his shoulder as he left.

Turning towards Scott's sleeping form, Virgil sighed as he spoke a question to the room. "What now?"

Back in the room, Alan was still trying to shake John awake, when Doc and Gordon burst through the door.

"He won't wake up, Dad," Alan cried as he looked up into the stricken faces coming towards him. "Please make him wake up. He has to wake up. Why won't he wake up?"

Jeff and Doc, both reached the bed at the same time and Doc immediately started accessing John's condition. It appeared that he was just sleeping, but when Doc used his penlight to check John's pupils, they were sluggish in reacting to the light. Doc immediately hit the emergency call button.

* * *

Scott woke to the sounds of rustling nearby which made him instantly tense and prepare for an attack. It took him a few moments to realize that it was only the wind blowing the through the dead vegetation.

Sighing in relief, Scott finally let himself release the tension he'd been holding in preparation for an attack. He couldn't believe that he'd actually let himself sleep. "Yeah, that was smart," he chastised. "That's a great way to get yourself taken by a demon."

He wasn't sure when the demon would return, but he had a feeling that things were about to get critical and he needed to prepare himself for it. Pushing himself up, Scott took stock of his weapons that he'd made and then surveyed the surrounding area.

After checking out the scene, Scott made his way in the direction of the sound of water. He'd found a small stream the day before, or at least he thought it had been the day before. Time was pretty strange here. It was dark all the time, with shadows everywhere so you never knew if it was day or night.

Making his way quietly in the direction of the stream, Scott started as a voice came from behind him. "Did you sleep well, my pet?" Scott swung around with a gasp and stumbled backwards before gaining his footing as he found the demon standing directly behind him.

The demon didn't make a move closer to him. It only stood there smirking as it looked him up and down with an amusement gleaming in it's cold dark eyes. "Are you not going to answer ?" the demon asked. "I thought you slept very well. You just lay there listening to that sweet little voice of that annoying child and in no time you were drifting away. It was so sickeningly sweet that it was revolting."

Scott didn't move but kept his eyes on the demon as it started to walk around him. He didn't answer the thing either because he felt it would somehow give the demon an opening to attack him. So, he just kept watching and waiting as he tried his best to keep the panic to a minimum.

"I do have to wonder who the other voice belonged to," the demon stated tapping it's long clawed finger on its chin as it stopped directly in front of Scott. "Oh well, I'll find out at some point. Maybe it will be someone else to torment, but in the meantime I still have you."

Scott still didn't speak but he narrowed his eyes at the demon as he realized the demon was talking about his brother, John."There is no way in hell that I'm letting you anywhere near any of my brothers," Scott thought to himself as he flinched away from the demon's hand as it reached for his face.

"Now, now," the demon tsked. "Why do you pull away from me? You know that you will eventually weaken and become unable to fight me," the demon continued as he ran a clawed finger through Scott's dark hair. "Then I will offer you up to my Master, and you being such a deliciously moral fighter, he will enjoy breaking you."

Looking up into the creatures dark sinister eyes, Scott pulled free of its touch. He stepped back and threw a punch at its face with its leathery, dead flesh and razor sharp fangs and teeth. "I don't break, you ugly freak," Scott yelled as the demon stumbled backwards with a roar of pain.

Recovering quickly, the demon crouched and bowed its scaly ridged back and hissed in response, "We shall see. You're going to beg my Master for death before he's finished with you and I'm going to enjoy watching as you break."

"You can't watch if you're dead, asshole," Scott said as he clasped the makeshift knife he'd made in his hand.

"You can't kill me," the demon laughed. "I can't be killed by the likes of you."

"Maybe not," Scott replied as he and the demon started circling each other, "but I'm sure as hell going to try."

With that said, Scott slashed at the demon with his knife as the demon parried and flashed knife of its own into its hand. Neither drawing blood this time. They continued to thrust and slash at each other until finally, Scott's knife made contact and the demon bellowed with rage.

Black blood ran from the slash Scott had made across the demons forearm, as it snarled and it's dark eyes took on a red gleam. Scott knew he was in trouble as it's claws and teeth elongated and it's body began to tremble as it grew a few more inches. It now stood well over Scott's head and seemed to grow even more as he watched.

"It appears, oh ugly one, that you CAN be killed by the likes of me," Scott smirked. "If you can bleed then you can die," he said as he prepared himself for another attack.

He didn't have to wait long as the demon lunged and took him to the ground sending the both rolling down the incline behind them. They both continued to punch, slash, and claw until they finally to a stop at the bottom. Both were bloody now, but neither would give up as they continued to fight.

Scott had just gotten the upper hand and was getting ready to plunge his knife into the demons neck as he broke his arm free of its grip, when the demon suddenly rolled and pinned him down. It sank its claws into the ground, pinning his arms above his head as it bent it's head towards Scott's neck as he twisted and fought to break free. Scott attempted to head butt the demon, but at the last minute it moved its head to the side and struck at the side of Scott's neck instead, sinking it's fangs and teeth deep into Scott's neck and shoulder.

Scott screamed and flung his head back trying to dislodge the demon but it held on as it tore and ripped at his flesh. Blood poured from its mouth covering them both as it ran down Scott's chest and back and eventually soaked the ground.

He continued to fight to dislodge the demon from him, but could feel his body weakening as the blood loss made it harder and harder to move. He knew he was in trouble when his vision began to turn black around the edges and he could feel the beginnings of unconsciousness trying to take him. He was losing the fight for consciousness and was about to reach the point of true panic, when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.

John woke to find himself surrounded by darkness. He didn't feel the panic set in until he got to his feet and turned to see where he was. All he could see were shadows, dead vegetation and trees. There was a moonless sky up above him and he could feel a cold breeze brushing against his skin.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. The last thing he remembered was leaving Scotty's ICU room and walking down the hall and falling asleep in one of the rooms that had been set up for his family to use. He continued to look around as he walked towards the sound of water.

As he got closer to the water he stopped suddenly as he thought he saw shadows and heard voices talking. He listened for a moment before moving a little closer so that he could hear what they were saying. He heard a roar and then a growled reply as he moved closer. It was at that moment that the two shadows lunged at each other and fell.

John ran to the edge of the incline as he looked across the darkened blackness below him to see the two combative shadows rolling downward. They continued to slash and punch at each other as they fell until they disappeared from John's sight. Swallowed up by the inky darkness below him.

John didn't know what it was that disturbed him so much about it, but he knew he needed to make his way to the bottom. There was this need that couldn't be ignored and it moved him cautiously forward.

He took his time as he worked his way through the darkness, trying to make certain he had solid foot and hand holds before moving. "The last thing I need is to fall and injure myself," he thought as he moved slowly along. "Especially considering that I don't know where the hell I am."

When he finally reached the bottom, he walked along the stream towards the sounds of fighting when he heard a scream. It was a scream of pain and for some reason it raised the hairs along his arms and the back of his neck. It made his feet move more quickly over the uneven ground as he raced forward. John wasn't sure what it was about that scream, but he felt compelled to help whoever it was.

The second he got close enough to actually see the struggling forms, John stopped dead in his tracks as his brain tried to process what was happening in front of him. There on the ground not 10 feet from him was his brother, Scott. His brother who was supposed to be in the ICU unit of the hospital hooked up to tubes and monitors and fighting for his life surrounded by his family.

"What the hell is going on," John thought as he shook his head trying to figure out if it was really Scott or a figment of his imagination. "Am I dreaming?"

It was the second scream and the sight of blood soaking the ground around his brother that brought John back to his senses. He didn't know exactly what was pinning his brother to the ground but it looked like it had its teeth in Scotty's neck as it ripped and tore at him. John could see from the amount soaking the ground and covering his brother and that thing, that his brother was losing strength at a rapid pace.

"LET GO OF MY BROTHER YOU ASSHOLE," John screamed as he ran forward and tackled the thing taking it to the ground. The sound of his yell had caused the ugly thing to pull up from Scotty's neck, startled for a moment, and look towards him right as John hit.

John didn't hesitate as he rolled from the creature and looked around for a weapon of some sort. The creature was still trying to gain its feet when John spotted a makeshift knife and grabbed it up. "You hurt my brother you piece of shit," John snarled as he walked towards the thing that was almost to its feet. "I don't know what you are, but you're definitely going to pay."

Just as John got close enough the thing threw out it's clawed hand and swiped John's feet from under him. It threw itself on to John's body as he struggled to take a breath that had been knocked from him. The thing wrapped a clawed hand around John's throat as he reached for the knife that he'd dropped when he fell.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the creature said as it lowered its head to look into John's face. "Another Tracy son come to play, I take it? I have to say, you're as pretty as your mother. All that blond hair and those blue eyes," the demon continued as it licked down the side of John's face.

John cringed as the sandpapered tongue of the thing on top of him ran up the side of his face. He tried not to react, but he couldn't help the tremble of revulsion that ran through him at its touch. He was beginning to feel the first stirrings of panic when his hand found what it was looking for and he grasped it tightly in his hand. He then turned his face up and looked the creature dead in the eyes.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother, you perv," John said. Then with a burst of strength he thrust the knife into the side of the thing's neck.

It screamed as it flung itself away from John and black blood spurted from the wound. It's clawed hands reaching up to try to staunch the flow of blood, but to no avail. It's body started to fade into the darkness surrounding it but before it disappeared it turned it's read eyes to John and in a growling voice said, "This game isn't over, and now that I have you and your brother here, I'll have my pick of gifts for my Master." Then with that said, it faded away as if it had never been there.

John let out a breath to relieve the built up tension, then he rolled to his side and crawled over to where Scotty lay unmoving on the ground. Making it to his brother's side, John reached over and clasped both hands on Scott's face. "Scotty," he whispered, "can you hear me?"

Scott's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at John's face. "Johnny?" Scott breathed as he felt his brother's hands touch his face, but the blood loss had cost him and he couldn't stay awake. As his eyes slowly closed, and before letting himself drift back into unconsciousness, he heard John's voice saying something to him, but was to hurt and exhausted to understand what he said.

"It's okay, Scotty," John said as his brother fell back into unconsciousness. "I've got you and it's going to be okay now."

After tearing pieces of his clothing and making a bandage to staunch the blood flow, John carried Scott over to a grassy area under a tree near the stream. Sitting down with his back to the tree, John pulled Scotty into his arms.

As he sat there cradling his big brother to his chest, he looked up into the dark sky and for the noticed that it wasn't as dark as it had been before. Now there were a few stars lining the night sky and a glimpse of a moon. John also noticed that the surrounding darkness wasn't as dark and that it was lighter than it had been before the fight.

"Shh, Scotty," he whispered as his brother whimpered softly in his sleep. "Just rest for a while. I've got you and we'll figure out what's going on when you wake up, but for now just sleep. I won't let anything hurt you. I promise," he swore as he rocked Scotty in his arms. It wasn't long before John himself felt a tug on his own consciousness and felt himself drifting away. The feel of his brother's warm body fading as the darkness overtook him.

* * *

Back in the ICU unit, Virgil was in a full panic mode as Scott's vitals went crazy. He yelled for the nurses as he attempted to hold down his brother's thrashing body.

"Please, Scotty," he begged, "don't do this. Please just hold on. Oh God please."

The door flung open and three orderlies and two nurses rushed into the room and immediately reached to help. Luckily, the halo was helping to stabilize Scott's neck and keeping him from flinging his head. Virgil and the orderlies held him down while the nurses were working frantically to figure out what was wrong.

Suddenly, blood started pouring from his mouth around the intubation tube and that sent everyone into a full blown panic. Nurse Jenkins turned to another nurse that had come running through the door and said, "Page Doc Steven immediately. Get him here STAT!"

Virgil and the head nurse immediately started removing the intubation tube from his brother's throat as more blood began to pour from Scott's mouth. As soon as they got the tube out, Scott stopped struggling and his vitals seemed to go back to normal.

The stillness was so sudden that it was frightening and caused everyone to look up. As they did they themselves when still as they say Summer standing at the side of the bed with her little stuffed wolf cradled against her chest and her other hand rubbing small circles on Scotty's hand. "He's okay now," Summer said as she looked up at Virgil. "Johnny has him and he's going to be okay."


	14. Chapter 14

******Disclaimer:** I still don't own the Thunderbirds and still wish that I did.

**A/N: **Thanks to all my readers and to the best beta in the world, Sam1. Sorry for the long delay. I'll try to post much sooner next time. Now sit back and ENJOY, because there is definitely more to come.

**CHAPTER 14**

Doc was in the process of pushing meds into John's arm, when the door suddenly flew open and a flushed, panicked nurse burst in. "Doc Steven, you're needed in ICU, STAT," the nurse said, gasping. "The patient is thrashing about and his vitals are fluctuating like crazy. Nurse Jenkins and the patient's brother along with some other nurses and orderlies are trying to hold him down. Nurse Jenkins said she needs you immediately." Breathless, the nurse leaned against the wall.

Jeff and Doc immediately tensed and Jeff started for the door to run back to Scott. Alan and Gordon both looked torn then seemed to come to a silent decision as Gordon went to follow Jeff to the door.

Doc looked at the nurse, then back at John, not really knowing what he was going to do as he was the only doctor on the floor for the moment. His mind raced but seeing as how John's vitals all seemed to be stable for the moment he made the decision to get back to Scott. Just as he straightened after taking the needle from John's arm, the blond man gasped loudly before sitting straight up. He immediately jerked at the IV and other monitor wires, discarding them and freeing himself.

Everyone reacted at the same time and reached to hold him down, but he was very agitated and fought them off. Eventually, Jeff reached over and took John's face in his hands and forced him to look at him. "John," he said in his commanding voice, "look at me, Son. Look at me. It's okay. You're okay, just calm down."

John seemed to calm a bit and Doc started to make for the door to head to Scott's room, when he heard John's panicked voice cry out his brother's name.

"Scott," John cried. His gaze darted frantically around the room. "Where's Scotty? I have to find Scotty. Oh my God, Dad, I have to get back to Scotty. He's hurt and I have to protect him from that thing!"

Jeff was about to tell John to take it easy, when he was shoved backwards. John flung himself from the bed and ran for the door. He almost took Doc to the ground as he barreled past him and flew through the door and ran down the hallway towards Scott's room. Alan and Gordon had already gone after him and the others followed once they had recovered their balance. Each of them not sure what was happening, but knowing that they needed to get to Scott's room as soon as possible.

John rushed into Scott's room followed by the others. In his haste, he nearly knocked down a little, old lady who was standing just inside the door. He blindly reached to steady her, but his eyes were solely focused on his big brother and the blood that stained the sheets and his mouth.

"Sorry," John mumbled. He walked towards the bed unaware that he pushed a nurse out of his way. His gaze shifted from Scott then up to Virgil before shifting again to their fallen brother. Reaching over to stroke the side of Scott's cheek with a finger, he heard Virgil and the head nurse telling Doc and the others what happened.

Doc immediately started checking Scott's vitals before checking Scott's throat in case of any damage that may have been done. Doc wasn't sure where the blood had come from, but knew that it was a bad sign and that at some point Scott had truly been in distress. Jeff, Alan, Gordon, and Virgil watched from the foot of the bed, while John continued pleading for Scott to wake up.

The sight of their normally calm brother so distressed was unusual and more than a little upsetting for them. Jeff started forward to try to comfort John, but was stopped at the sight of the old woman reaching him first and embracing him. He then looked down as he felt his own hand gently gripped in a tiny one and Summer's dark head lean against his side.

John didn't pay them any mind to the nurses or anyone else in the room. His entire focus was on Scott's face, willing him to wake up, but knowing that he wouldn't. Suddenly, he jumped as a hand settled on his arm and he could feel someone standing very close to him. Tears streamed down his face unchecked while his body trembled with emotion. It wasn't until he was turned and pulled into a warm embrace did he feel anything. Gentle fingers stroked through the hair at his nape and a comforting hand rubbed small circles on his back as he struggled to calm himself.

"It is okay, Mr. Tracy," the old woman said to Jeff as he reached for John with his free hand. "He just needs a moment to gather himself. He has been through a harrowing experience and he will be fine in a few moments."

Unsure of just who the old woman comforting his son was, Jeff belatedly realized that the initial panic he felt had dissipated. It was as if the woman's presence was a soothing balm to the worried Tracys. As much as he wanted – and needed – to comfort John, he wasn't sure if his touch was what John needed. "I'm sorry, but who are you and how did you get in here?" Jeff asked. The woman just kept up her calming ministrations that slowly eased John's anxiety and tears.

The old woman didn't answer right away, but Jeff felt a slight tug on his hand and looked down into Summer's face. "She's my grandma, Evening Dove," Summer explained as Jeff knelt down on one knee so she wasn't straining to look at him. "She won't hurt Johnny so you don't have to worry."

Smiling, Jeff gently hugged Summer's small frame. "I don't know why but I'm not worried, little one," Jeff said, releasing her from the gentle hug. "I can see that she's taking very good care of Johnny." Then looking over at Evening Dove, Jeff smiled and mouthed a silent "thank you" as she smiled back at him and continued to soothe John.

After a few more moments, John pulled back from her and looked around. The confusion he felt was clearly written on his face. _"How did I get here? Didn't I go to that other room for a nap?"_ Slightly embarrassed, he turned to Scott and placed a hand on his chest. He felt the steady beat of Scott's heart and was reassured that his big brother was still alive. His gaze focused on Scott's face, searching for any signs of distress. His focus was so tunneled that he didn't notice Virgil's approach.

"Are you okay, John?" Virgil asked. He reached out a hand to steady John when he started.

"Yeah," John sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm fine."

Sensitive brown eyes studied the blond man. "You have a huge bruise around your throat," Virgil said as he leaned over to examine the dark marks that showed above the collar of his brother's shirt. "How did you get those?"

Perplexed, John looked up at his brother as he absently touched his hand to his throat. "I-I'm not sure. I don't remember," he whispered frowning in concentration only to jump as he felt a hand gently lay upon his shoulder.

"Easy, Son," Jeff said as he turned John to face him. "Did someone hurt you, Johnny? Is that why you're so jumpy, Son?"

Virgil had continued to look at the bruising and Doc Steven had come over to examine them also when Jeff pulled John to him. John opened his mouth to say something but never made it as he suddenly grabbed his head and dropped to his knees, crying out.

Jeff caught John in his arms and cradled him to his chest as John thrashed in his arms. "No, no, no, no, no," John repeated over and over as he clutched at his blond hair and started to hyperventilate. "I have to go back. It'll get Scotty unless I go back. I have to protect Scotty."

Evening Dove came forward and knelt down in front of Jeff and placed a hand on John's heaving chest above his heart. "Shh, Stargazer," she said as she soothingly brushed his hair from his face. Then she looked up at Jeff and the others in the room. "He was not ready to come back from the Shadowlands. This is why he is in such pain and confusion," she explained.

"I don't understand," Virgil said as he and Doc tried to pull John's hands from his hair. "What do you mean, the Shadowlands, and what do you mean he wasn't ready to come back?"

"The Shadowlands are the lands between this life and the next. They are a place where some people go to before being allowed to move on from this life. Your Scotty is in the Shadowlands and your little Stargazer here is a Dream walker like my granddaughter," Evening Dove explained. "You see, there are some among us that are capable of walking the Shadowlands and helping the ones that are there move forward into the next life or help them stay in this one. The people who are there are either fighting to stay in this life or move on to the next, but they all must pass specific tests to be deemed worthy or either."

Looking down at John who had calmed and was clinging to his father's shirt, Evening Dove continued to explain as everyone else watched her closely. "Your Stargazer was in the Shadowlands when you woke him. He wasn't aware that he had this gift and the transition back into reality from the Dreamscape he was in is difficult until he learns to control it. My Summer and I will help him if he wishes to learn. I must warn you now that he has been to the Shadowlands, what lies there will always have a link to him. There is great evil there and I believe that he and his brother have been touched by it.

"Okay," Gordon said as he moved closer to Evening Dove's side. "So if what you're saying is true, then my brother can cross over into another plane of existence and that Scott is there also."

"Yes," Evening Dove confirmed, looking over at Gordon while Jeff and the others in the room looked at him in shock.

"Is that why Summer has such a calming effect on Scotty?" Virgil asked.

"Yes, Sir," Summer said before her grandmother could answer. "I've been in the Shadowlands with Scotty since he was in the accident I've been trying to help him get back to you."

Doc looked at Summer and asked, "Is that the reason that it is sometimes hard to wake you up and why it was so difficult to wake up John a few minutes ago?"

"Yes sir," Summer said as she went over and sat down next to Scott and reached for his hand. "It usually takes a few minutes to get back, unless I'm forced back like you did to Johnny. That hurts when you do that, by the way," she said as she looked at Doc.

"I have another question," Gordon said. "Why are there bruises on John's neck and is there something in the Shadowlands that is making Scott's vitals go all crazy?"

Looking at Gordon, Evening Dove locked her dark eyes with his as she spoke. "Scott is badly injured and his life is hanging by a thread. He is fighting with everything he has to get back to you, but as I said before. There is great evil in the Shadowlands. Evil that will stop at nothing to take him and trap him there forever. Every injury inflicted on him in the Shadowlands, he will experience here as well. Your Stargazer saved your oldest brother's life. Had John not dream walked and stopped what was happening I assure you, Scott would have died."

Suddenly John sat up and clasped his Dad's hand. "I have to go back," he said in a panic filled voice. "I have to go back now. Scotty's hurt and he can't fight that thing. I have to go back. Please, Dad, I have to go back. I have to help Scotty. That thing will kill him and take him from us and I can't lose Scotty. Please, help me, Dad. Please… Please…Oh God, please," John begged; his pleas became more and more desperate.

"Shh, Johnny," Jeff said as he reached to pull his son back into his arms. "It's okay. We'll figure something out."

John pushed away and scooted backwards until his back hit the wall as the words started to fall from his lips and run together as he shook with each word. "It choked him and beat him and bit and tore at him like he was a bone for a rabid dog and Scotty was bleeding and he couldn't breathe and I knocked that thing off of him and we fought and it started choking me and I grabbed the knife that Scotty had made and I stabbed it as hard as I could, but I couldn't breathe, and oh God, Scotty was bleeding from his mouth and his neck and I had to tear my shirt so that I could stop the blood, and then I tried to keep him warm, but, Dad, he was so cold and I didn't want to leave him to make a fire because I was worried that thing would come back and…and.." John finally paused to take a breath.

"Stargazer," Evening Dove said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "your Scotty is fine. He is sleeping peacefully and is in no danger. You will know when he needs you again and you will be there to help him. You need to rest for now, little one. My Summer will watch over your Scotty and make certain he is safe. She is very powerful and she's linked to your brother's fate. My granddaughter will not allow anything to hurt him. I promise."

Looking at the room, John nodded as he visibly tried to calm his shaking body. "Okay, but I want to stay in here. I don't want to go back down the hallway."

"That can be arranged," Doc said as Alan went and sat next to John and pulled him into his arms, squeezing him tightly.

"I got scared, Johnny," Alan admitted as he buried his face in his brother's neck. "When you wouldn't wake up, I thought we had lost you, too, and I don't want you to do that again, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Alan. I didn't mean to scare you and I'll try not to do that again, I promise," John said as the exhaustion took hold and he closed his eyes and rested his blond head on the blond head of his baby brother.

It wasn't long before John was completely asleep and Jeff lifted him up and placed him on a cot that Doc Steven had moved into the far corner of the room. Jeff sat next to John for a few more moments before brushing his hair from his son's face and walking back to the other side of the room.

"Okay, I understand what you said about the Shadowlands and everything, but there's something that I've been wanting to ask you," Jeff said as he stopped in front of Evening Dove.

"How did you know that John was a stargazer?" Virgil asked suddenly and received a frown from his Dad.

"Yeah," Gordon said as he stood next to Virgil. "I've been wondering that myself."

Smiling, Evening Dove glanced over at Summer who had started to giggle. Then she looked back at the Tracy men in front of her and replied. "I know that about him because his spirit guide told me."

"Spirit guide?" Jeff asked as he cocked his head slightly.

"Yes," Evening Dove replied. "All your boys have strong spirit guides that watch over them. Even you, Mr. Tracy. There is one that is more powerful that watches over you all surrounding you with love."

No one said a word for a few moments, but stood there as the room suddenly filled with the sweet scent of lilac and lavender. Then Jeff walked over to Scott's side, sat in the chair. Lifting his son's bandaged hand to his lips he closed his eyes and whispered as he drew the scent he knew so well into his lungs, "My Lucy."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Thunderbirds, dang it, but really wish that I did.

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I've been busy and this was a hard chapter to get through. I'll try to post the next chapter a little quicker this next time. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers and big thanks to Sam1 for doing the beta thing and being the best evil twin I could ask for. Hope you all enjoy! Just to be safe, a tissue warning is being issued.

**CHAPTER 15**

Red hot pain flowed through his body as he fought his way to consciousness. Moving slightly, he hissed as the pain levels spiked. _"Okay, moving is a bad thing."_ He didn't think there was a place on him that wasn't bruised and battered. "Oh well," he thought to himself. "I guess it's better than being dead." He could still feel the blood oozing from where the demon had ripped at his flesh with those razor sharp fangs. _"Since when did I resemble a chew toy for ugly assed freaks?" _Pulling slightly at the makeshift bandage that John had applied, Scott winced as another wave of pain flared through the wound.

He cautiously pushed against the mossy ground until he was sitting up. Closing his eyes, he sat still as the world spun out-of-control and his stomach churned at the sensation. Once the dizziness passed, he looked around for his brother. He knew his brother had been there and had saved him from the demon, but there was no sign of him now. Worry gnawed at him as he tried a few times to call out for John. He gave up when he realized his bruised throat wouldn't work and refused to let any sound pass. _"Might as well get up and look for him since calling his name isn't going to work."_ Scott used the tree behind him as he struggled to his feet. Shutting his eyes just as he gained his feet, he swallowed hard against the waves of nausea that washed over him. _"Breathe in slowly. Don't think about puking. Breathe out."_ It took several long moments of repeating his little mantra before his stomach settled down.

"God, I'm so tired," Scott sighed to himself. He started to move forward but stopped short when an angry hiss sounded from behind him. Whirling around he lost his footing and started to fall. The sudden momentum of him crashing to his knees drove him to slam his hands down. It was only due to his reflexes that he avoided slamming into the ground face first. Pain shot through him and his vision started fading as unconsciousness tried taking him again. He fought to stay conscious as he tried to breathe through the pain.

"How dare you say that accursed name in my presence." Staying out of the younger man's eye sight, the owner of the voice continued, "I don't understand why you continue to fight so hard." A slight whisper of air brushed Scott's neck just before his dark hair was grabbed and his head jerked back. Black spots danced in his vision as he struggled to focus and make out the face glaring down at him. He attempted to lash out at the bastard holding him but he suddenly felt weak. His right arm refused to move no matter how hard he tried to force it.

"Let me go, you bastard," Scott hissed through his teeth. Finally able to focus his vision, he went suddenly still at the being before him. "Beautiful." So beautiful that Scott found himself unable to look away from the face hovering in front of him. It looked like a man at first glance but then when he looked into the man's eyes, he realized that it was something entirely evil.

"Now, now, let's not resort to name calling, shall we?" the thing holding him said as he released Scott's hair. In less than one second, he felt some relief at having his hair released before he was shoved roughly against the tree. "I prefer to be called Master by my subjects, but I have a feeling you'll take exception to that," the new demon laughed. "I think that's what I like most about you."

"I don't really care if you like me, but there's no way in hell I'm calling you Master, you asshole," Scott gasped breathlessly.

Holding onto Scott's throat with one hand, the demon reached with the other to stroke through his dark hair. Laughing at Scott's reply, "There's just something about you Tracy men. All that courage and fighting spirit no matter what the odds are. I've wondered for a while what it was that made all of you so damned determined and hard to corrupt." Leaning forward so that his hot fetid breath blazed across Scott's lips, the demon tightened the hold on Scott's throat closing off his air. "You think you're so above it all. Well, I know your weakness, Scotty, my boy." Scott's eyes were losing focus and he couldn't get his body to respond enough to struggle against the hold on his throat. "I know exactly what your weakness is and I fully intend to use it." The demon laughed, "I just have to wait and I'm very patient. I mean, I do have all of eternity to do it, but you, my pretty boy, don't have that long."

Scott's eyes rolled back in his head and he felt the darkness pulling at him as he fought to stay conscious. Raising his hand weakly to grip the wrist of the hand holding him by the throat, Scott knew that it was pointless to struggle. He struggled to dislodge the hand from his throat as he clawed and beat at it weakly. He was too weak and hurt, but he was going to go down fighting. "Oh God, I can't breathe," he thought to himself. "I just need to take one breath."

The demon laughed as Scott's hand gripped his wrist. "Now the real fun begins," he breathed into Scott's ear. He continued to laugh as Scott fought to make him let go of his throat. The demon knew that he was too weak and that it wouldn't be long till he stopped breathing and fell unconscious.

Scott lost the fight to stay conscious and went limp. The demon released his hold on Scott's throat and let him fall forward into his arms. Laying Scott across his arm he stroked a hand through the dark locks and smiled when a voice spoke from behind him.

"Let him go, Evil One!"

Before turning, the demon threw Scott's unconscious body over his shoulder. Then he turned to look at the child of light standing before him with a smirk. A smirk that quickly died when he realized that the child wasn't alone and there was another there he hadn't expected.

"Put my brother down, you asshole, or I'm going to rip you apart limb from limb!"

* * *

Doc checked Scott's vitals again and realized that with the intubation tubes removed that Scott was struggling to breathe. He couldn't take the chance that Scott would stop breathing. He decided that the best course of action would be to replace the tube and let the respirator continue to breathe for him. Doc told Jeff what he was going to do and had a nurse assist him in rechecking Scott's throat for damage. After finding nothing of concern or to explain the blood, Doc sent everyone out of the room and replaced the tube.

The only ones that didn't leave were Summer and John, who were sleeping on the cot on the other side of the room. Summer had climbed up on the cot with him and they were both sleeping so soundly that Doc didn't want to wake them. Once Doc Steven had finished he walked outside and gathered up the rest of the family. His heart was aching for his friend. He had checked the brain scan and it was showing a drop in activity. He knew that soon, Jeff was going to have to make a decision.

"Jeff, Scott can't go on like this," he said as he looked at his friend's worried face. "His body is too damaged and he can't keep having these episodes or we're going to lose him. Already the scan of his brain activity is showing a drop. I don't really understand this talk about Dreamwalkers, but whatever it is it's affecting Scott in a bad way. You remember what I told you about that decision that you're going to have to make?"

"Yeah," Jeff whispered as agony filled his eyes. "I remember."

"I think that it's time to discuss it with the boys, because if Scott's brain activity drops anymore, you're going to have to make that decision," Doc said as he placed a hand on Jeff's shoulder. He meant it to be comforting, but he wasn't sure that anything could comfort his friend at this moment.

"You're saying that my son is dying, aren't you?" Jeff asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm just saying that you need to have the boys on board with whatever decision has to be made, in case it does come to that," Doc replied.

"Okay," Jeff sighed, looking into the room where his sons had gathered around Scott's bed. "I'll talk with them about it when John wakes up and I can get them all together."

"That's fine," Doc said as he maneuvered his friend into the ICU room. "Right now Scott's stable, but the scan IS showing a slight drop in brain activity. It could be a temporary drop, or could be something permanent. We'll just have to wait and see."

Walking into the room Jeff looked over at each of his sons. Then made his way over to Scott's bedside and sat down beside him. Reaching over, Jeff laid his hand on the bed, palm up and place Scott's bandaged one in it. Leaning over, he placed his other hand in his son's dark locks and in a whispered voice said, "Don't make us have to make that decision, Scotty. Please keep fighting and come back to us. Don't make me and your brothers lose you. I'm not sure we'll survive it."

Suddenly, the alarms on the monitors blared and everyone jumped at once. Doc and two nurses ran to Scott's side and shoved Jeff out of the way as they went to work on Scott. Scott's body jerked violently. His battered body arching against the restraints they had placed on him to keep him from injuring himself if he had another seizure. Jeff and the others felt helpless as they watched Doc and the nurses fight to get him stable. The heart monitor was going berserk as Doc and the nurses tried everything to stabilize him. Scott stopped moving, suddenly, and the monitor made that horrible sound that everyone had feared.

"CODE BLUE, ICU," Nurse Jenkins called as her and Doc tried to get Scott's heart beating again. The sound of running feet came from the hallway as another two nurses came running into the room with the crash cart. They immediately started trying to shock Scott's heart back to beating again, but after five minutes, Doc stood up and looked over at the agonized faces of the Tracys.

Jeff and the boys didn't move as Doc looked over at them. Tears of loss were already falling as the boys watched their father walk to Scott's side and embrace him.

"I'm sorry, Jeff," Doc said as he watched his friend walk slowly over to the bed. Doc couldn't say anything else because he got choked up when his best friend gently moved the nurse to the side and lie down next to Scott's body and pull him into his arms.

"I know you did everything you could, Steven," Jeff whispered as he cradled his oldest son's body to his chest. "I just need to hold him for a few minutes. I was the first one to hold him on the day he was born and my Lucy brought him into this world."

Choking back tears of his own, Doc whispered, "I remember, Jeff. I remember."

Jeff looked up at his friend as tears fell from his eyes and said, "I want him to know that I will remember holding him when he took his first breath and that I am here holding him when he took his last." Looking up and closing his eyes, Jeff whispered Lucy's name and hugged Scott's body closer as he let the tears fall. "Take him home, Lucy. Take our boy home." Then bowing his head he pressed his cheek against his oldest son's forehead and cried.


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Thunderbirds, but I really wish that I did.

**A/N:** To all my faithful readers and all the new readers of my story, I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am writing it. There is alot that is going to happen in the future chapters so stay tuned! Special Thanks to all my reviewers and my BETA EXTRAORDINAIRE- Sam1. Now, get to reading and ENJOY ! Oh, TISSUE WARNING for this chapter. :)

**CHAPTER 16**

Virgil, Gordon and Alan stood beside the bed and each placed a loving hand upon their older brother. Their tears fell unchecked as each one remembered their last moment spent with Scott before they left for the mission. Each of them leaned over and placed a kiss on their fallen brother's cheek and forehead, then stood back as Doc moved forward to place a hand on Jeff's shoulder.

It became too much for Alan to take as he watched his father desperately holding onto Scott's body while Doc, Virgil, and Gordon tried to talk him into letting go. Alan felt as though the walls were closing in on him and he couldn't catch his breath. The pain in his chest was growing to unbearable proportions. His big brother was gone. Dead. Just like their mother. Taken from him and this time with the memories left behind, unlike with his mother whom he never got to make memories with.

"No," Alan gasped shaking his head and backing away from his brother's bedside. "No, no, no, no, no," he chanted louder and louder until it was a scream and he turned and ran from the room. He was desperate to outrun the pain that was overwhelming him. Virgil, Gordon, and Doc all turned at Alan's scream to see him shaking his head and then bolting from the room. Gordon looked over at Virgil. After a brief unspoken communication, he left Virgil and Doc to handle their father while he went after Alan.

Running out the door after his baby brother, Gordon saw Alan running towards the stairs. The three security guys at the elevators reached for him as Gordon cried out, but Alan was too quick and dodged their reaching hands. Gordon watched as his little brother hit the door to the stairs without stopping. All the while, he could hear Alan's chant of "No," following him. Gordon's heart beat with pain, but he ran after his brother anyway. He needed to be sure that Alan didn't do something stupid or hurt himself in his mad dash to escape what had happened in that ICU room. The problem is there was no going back. No escape. No nothing that would make losing Scotty any better for any of them. All they could do now was push forward and try to make it without him.

Running down the stairs, Gordon saw Alan hit the EXIT door to the fifth floor. He followed and saw his brother stop running as he reached a door leading out to a patio area that was overlooking a wooded area and lake outside the hospital. Gordon watched from the doorway as Alan ran to the railing and gripped it in a tight hold and screamed out into the brightening dawn.

The youngest brother gripped the railing as if it was a lifeline as the pain and anger of his loss hit him. Throwing his head back Alan let the pain and anger go as he screamed his brother's name just as the sun broke over the horizon illuminating everything with its orange-red glow.

"SCCOOOOTTTTYYY!" Alan screamed as he felt his legs give underneath him and he started to fall onto the patio deck floor. He didn't care that he was falling. His big brother was dead and he didn't want to care about anything anymore. Just before he hit, Alan felt a pair of arms encircle him and gently lower him to the floor. There he was turned and cradled against a familiar chest. Rocked back and forth, Alan cried his pain against his brother's chest as he gripped his shirt in a desperate hold. His whole world had shattered around him and he held his brother out of pain and fear. Fear, that along with his world he, himself, would shatter as well.

Gordon could do nothing but hold his baby brother. There were no words that he could say to make anything better or to take away any of the pain. All he could do was hold his brother in his lap and rock him as they both let their pain wash through them. Alan gripped his shirt so tight that you could see the whites of his knuckles, but Gordon didn't mind. He, too, had a tight hold on his baby brother. He needed to feel grounded just as much as Alan, because he felt as though he was going to shatter at any moment.

After what seemed like centuries, Gordon felt Alan shift slightly away from him, so he looked down to see the blue eyes of his brother looking up at him. "Why, Gordy?" Alan whispered. "Why would the sun rise? I don't want the sun to come up, Gordy. Scotty did everything right on that bridge. He saved that baby, and was trying to save the parents. He didn't do anything wrong. Did we do something wrong, Gordy? Did we do something that made God so mad at us that he took Scotty from us like he did Mom? Oh God, Gordy! How do we even keep on breathing? How do we keep breathing, because I feel like I can't breathe?"

Brushing a lock of blond hair from his brother's face, Gordon let Alan ask the questions that he'd been asking himself. The thing was Gordon didn't know why. All he knew was that Scott was gone. He didn't know the "why" of it. All he did know was that nothing was ever going to be the same. Gordon felt his tears continue down his face at the desperate look on Alan's face.

"I don't know, Alan," Gordon said as he pulled Alan against his chest again and continued rocking him. "I don't have an answer to any of those questions. I only know that the sun always rises, Scotty did do everything right, and that we are all going to have to remember to wake every morning from now on and force ourselves to breathe in and out. I know that Scotty would want us to. You know that he wouldn't want us to stop living. We all knew that one day something like this could happen and that one of us wouldn't come back from a rescue. It's what we do, Alan. It's the chance we take and the sacrifice we make and the price we pay for doing what we do." Taking a shaky breath, Gordon continued, "I don't know how we are going to move forward from this. Even though we all knew this would one day happen, I never let myself think about it. I'm just as unprepared for it as you, Virgil, and Dad.

"And Johnny, Gordon," Alan said tilting his head up. "You forgot about Johnny."

Nodding, Gordon replied, "And Joh-." Gordon didn't finish. He suddenly went very still and his grip on Alan tightened as a frown creased his brow. Suddenly, he shifted and pushed Alan from him and jumped to his feet.

Stunned, Alan looked up at his red-haired brother and asked, "What's wrong?" Just as Gordon gained his feet and reached to pull Alan to his.

"JOHNNY," Gordon cried excitedly, pulling Alan to his feet. "Oh my God, Alan, Johnny was still asleep when we left. He didn't wake up. He didn't wake up through any of it. He's still sleeping. We have to get back to the room, Alan. We have to get back there right now!"

At first Alan didn't know why Gordon was so excited. It took a few moments for him to process through his pain filled mind, exactly what it was that Gordon was trying to tell him. They were halfway down the hall and running for the stairs when it finally clicked. Johnny hadn't woken when the monitors were going off and the activity of everyone trying to get Scotty's heart beating again. He had remained asleep and oblivious to all that was going on around him.

Adding on a burst of speed, Alan and Gordon both bolted through the stairwell door and ran up the stairs for the ICU unit. They had to get those monitors back on. They knew that Johnny was with Scott and there was no way in hell that Johnny was going to let Scott stay dead. They needed Doc to turn those monitors back on, and time was of the essence.

* * *

"My, my, little Dreamwalker," the demon said, looking over Summer's shoulder at John. "I didn't expect you to bring me another Tracy to play with. I think that maybe I should thank you for that."

"You don't scare me, Evil One," Summer said as she placed a hand on John's arm to keep him still. "Scott doesn't belong to you because he has to freely give up his life to you. You cannot take it from him by force."

"That is true, Little Dreamwalker," the demon smiled, "But I can make it impossible for him to resist giving me what I want. I find that a little torture goes along way when acquiring the things that I want, and I want Scott Tracy added to my collection. Thanks to the blond Tracy beside you, I am now one follower short so I need a replacement. What better replacement than Scotty boy here?"

"I won't let you take him, you evil bastard," John growled, taking a menacing step forward.

"Really, John," the demon laughed. "I think you're going to find that I'm not as easy to kill. My minion was definitely outmatched with you, but I'm more powerful than anyone standing here. You have no way of stopping me from taking your brother. You don't even have any weapons and if you think that you're going to be able to kill me with some makeshift knife like you did my minion, you're sadly mistaken."

"I don't need any weapons to kill you because I'm going to do it with my bare hands if you don't put my brother down," John growled, taking another step forward. It was then that he felt a tiny hand place itself on his arm.

"You are allowing the Evil One to bait you, Johnny," Summer said in a whispered voice. She had put a hand on John's arm to halt him from moving forward because she knew that the demon wanted him to come forward for some reason. She could see the anticipation in his eyes, where John only saw that Scott was hurt and being held by the demon. "That is exactly what he is wanting you to do. I can see the look in his eyes, that he is enjoying your anger and wants you to move closer to him."

John hadn't taken his eyes from the demon in front of him, but he realized that Summer was right as he looked into its face. It "did" want him closer for some reason. With that knowledge, John forced himself to calm instantly. Usually it took him a while to get back to that calm reserve that he was known for, but he was able to do it quite easily here in this place. Feeling himself relax, he stepped back to Summer's side and looked blankly at the demon.

The demon watched John closely, anticipating the attack that he felt and wanted to come from the Tracy. The blond Tracy's rage was written on his face as he had stepped forward and issued his threat, but he had stilled at the small hand on his arm. The demon cocked his head slightly as he suddenly felt the rage and stirring emotions lift not only from the young man before him, but from the surroundings as well. It was as if that small hand had sucked the negative emotions from the very air around them and scattered them into nothingness.

"Interfering little bitch," the demon hissed to himself. He wanted the rage he saw in John. There was nothing tastier to him than that strong negative emotion he felt from the younger Tracy. That is until that damn child of light had ruined it. Needing those emotions to feed his strength, the demon smiled to himself as a new plan of action came to his mind. He was going to win this fight. There was nothing that he wanted more than to have Scott Tracy as an addition to his army. They were already getting stronger with the number of souls that he and his minions had corrupted. Scott Tracy was going to be perfect as the new General of his growing army. His army would be stronger still if he could get the younger Tracy also to serve as Scott's second-in-command of that army. _"Yes," the demon thought to himself, "there would be no stopping my army if I had both Tracys at my beck and call, and I know exactly how to get them."_

Seeing the sudden smile flash across the demon's face, Summer's grip on John's arm tightened. She knew that smile was not a good thing. She didn't know what the demon had planned, but that smile didn't bode well for any of them.

Feeling Summer's grip tighten, John looked down at her, but quickly looked back up again when he saw that she had not taken her eyes from the demon in front of them. It was then that he saw the smile that revealed fanged teeth flash across the demon's face. _"Oh shit," John thought to himself, "that is not a good sign." _

The demon laughed to himself at their sudden stillness at his smile. "You both seem a little confused, he smirked. "Well let me fix that for you. I just realized that I hold all the cards here." "Or should I say the Tracy," he laughed as he reached a hand up and patted Scott's limp body still slung over his shoulder. He laughed again as he saw the flash of anger flare in John's eyes at his little pat. "Oh this is going to be way to easy," the demon said to himself triumphantly. "I will have them both in no time and I will be unstoppable."

"What game are you playing at?" John hissed watching that smirky smile cross the demon's face again.

"Oh trust me, Johnny boy," the demon said with sudden menace lacing his voice. "We haven't even begun to play yet, but since your so gung ho about it. What say we get started?" the demon asked as he flung Scott from his shoulder onto the ground with a jarring thud. Then bending down the demon lifted Scott's still body from the ground by his hair and turned him to face Summer and John. "Let the torture begin," he smiled raising a clawed hand and slashing downward to strike across Scott's exposed neck.

The demon never made contact, as a blur of sudden movement tackled him to the ground. A blur so quick that the demon never saw it coming. It wasn't until he felt a hand gripping his throat that he realized what the blur was.

"You're right, Demon," the rage filled voice hissed in his ear. "Let's get the torture started."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I do not nor have I ever owned anything concerning the Thunderbirds…I really wish that I did tho.

**A/N:** SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY for the delay in getting this out and posted. It's been a hectic holiday season. Hopefully, everything is dying down now so that I can get the next chapter out to you very soon. Thanks to my fantastic beta, Sam1, who is always available. You're the best evil twin I could ask for. LOL. Thanks to all my readers I hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Well enough of that mushy stuff. ENJOY !

**CHAPTER 17**

The demon didn't have a chance to react before the fist connected with its face repeatedly. Over and over again, he was pounded until black blood ran freely from his mouth and nose. Howling in rage and pain, the demon flung a fist at the man who had him pinned and after three attempts finally connected. The satisfying sound of his clawed fist hitting flesh was music to his ears as his stunned assailant fell to the side giving him a chance to gain his feet. The demon stared down at the blond Tracy with red glowing eyes. He tried to figure out how the human had gotten the best of him and moved so quickly that even he didn't see him until it was too late.

"The Tracys must be more powerful than I thought," the demon smiled to himself. He couldn't help but admire the loyalty the brothers had for each other. He knew that loyalty would be an asset to him when he gained them both for his army. He had the blond Tracy just where he wanted him for his plan to work. A plan that had Scott Tracy giving up his soul for that of his brother and in his downfall, John Tracy would soon follow.

The demon watched as John quickly recovered and gained his feet. The movement so fluid and quick that the demon had to step quickly back in order to avoid the fist that lashed out at him. "Ahh, the rage that is riding him is wonderful to see," the demon thought even as he parried another attack from John.

John had seen the demon's clawed hand slashing towards Scotty's exposed throat and he couldn't stop himself. The words of his Grandmother rang through his head and he remembered the one thing that might give him an advantage over the demon.

_Lucy Tracy had died months before and Jeff's mother was sitting with the boys_ _for the night. Jeff had gone into Tracy Enterprises to handle some business that couldn't wait and had asked his mother to watch over the boys until he got back. Grandma Tracy was sitting on the sofa reading a book she'd brought. She had just checked on the boys and they were all sleeping soundly. She had just finished another chapter when she heard a scream from one of the rooms upstairs._

_Jumping to her feet, she went up the stairs as quickly as she could. Just as she reached the landing, Scott shoved open his younger brother's bedroom door and ran to his bed. John thrashed wildly against the blankets that were tangled around him. It took Grandma a moment but she thought that it looked as if he were trying to get away from something. That something was clearly terrifying the young boy.__Tears were streaming down his face and he was screaming for Scott._

_Scott and Grandma Tracy immediately began untangling John from the blankets __that held his legs tight. Scott climbed up on the bed and reached over and pushed a lock of hair from John's tear-stained face and leaned down to whisper to him. "Shhh, Johnny, it's okay. I'm here and so is Grandma. It's okay. I got you, Johnny. Nothing is going to hurt you. I promise." John still hadn't woken up and was whimpering from the nightmare that still held him in its grip, but he turned his head towards Scott's voice. _

_Grandma Tracy watched as Scott pulled his little brother into his arms and held him close, whispering to him the entire time. She reached over and rubbed soothing circled on Johnny's back until his trembling subsided. Slowly he opened up his eyes and looked up at his big brother with those big blue eyes. He fought to not let the tears he was fighting back show, but they burst forth and streamed down his face. _

"_It's okay, Johnny," Scott said as he brushed the tears from his little brother's face with a gentle finger. "It was just a bad dream and you're safe now." _

_Grandma Tracy pulled a tissue from her pocket and also wiped at the tears that flowed from her little Johnny's eyes. Eyes that were so much like his mother's that her own son, Jeff, most days had a hard time looking at them. "What did you dream about, Johnny? You know that if you tell us, the dream will no longer be frightening and it won't be able to have any power over you."_

_Johnny pushed himself up so that he was now sitting and looked up at his Grandmother and big brother. His little hand brushed__ at his cheeks and then one reached up to twine into his big brothers hair as he lay his head against Scott's shoulder before he spoke. "I dreamed that I was trapped in the snow with Mommy and Alan. She was telling me that it would be okay and that I needed to hold Alan because she couldn't. She said that Scotty and Daddy would find us, but then it got really, really cold and she stopped talking and then she turned blue. I couldn't get her to wake up. Then I was by myself it was dark and cold. Alan and Mommy disappeared and the snow started getting closer and closer. I couldn't move and I started screaming for Scotty. I could hear Scotty calling my name, but he couldn't get me out and I was dying. I couldn't breathe. The snow was heavy and I couldn't breathe. There was this mean looking man there and he had red eyes and claws like a big tiger. He said that he was going to wait till Scotty got there and then he was going to take us with him. He was really scary, Scotty. I don't want the mean man to take us with him. Please, don't let the mean man take us, Scotty." _

_Scott hugged his little brother closer and said, "It's okay, Johnny. It was only a bad dream and the mean man can't hurt you. He's not real."_

_Grandma Tracy frowned as she watched Scott soothe John. She wasn't so sure that it was all a dream. The dream was real enough in that it was as close to what actually happened the day that Lucy died, but the "mean man" that John referred to was something entirely different. She remembered that Lucy woke from a nightmare one night screaming just a few nights before the avalanche that took her life. She had been hysterical and Jeff had to go and check on the boys to make sure they were all there and asleep. Lucy had told Jeff and his mother that she dreamed that a demon with claws and red eyes was trying to take her babies. That he wanted to take her babies with him and make them evil like he was. Jeff had been able to get her back to sleep, but Lucy woke up later and had Jeff bring all five of the boys into the room to sleep with them. _

"_Johnny," Mrs. Tracy said in a quiet voice. "The next time you dream about the mean man, I want you to do something for me. I want you to think of yourself as invincible."_

"_Invisible?" Johnny asked, looking up at his grandmother. "Like the invisible man?" Then looking up at Scott with a grin, he said, "That would be cool, huh, Scotty? I wish I could be invisible for real."_

_Scott's little body shook as he giggled at his little brother. "That's not what she said, Johnny. She said in-vinc-i-ble."_

_Smiling at John's misunderstanding, Grandma Tracy tried to explain, "No, Johnny, I mean strong. So strong that nothing can hurt you." _

"_Oh," John said as he frowned up at Scott's smiling face. Scott was looking at him with a strange look on his face, but when he saw John looking at him he immediately smiled down at him. _

"_What's wrong, Scotty?" John asked his big brother. _

"_Nothing runt," Scott replied softly. "Do you think that you can go back to sleep or do you want me to stay in here with you for a while until you do?"_

"_I want you to stay with me, Scotty," John said as he reached and hugged his brother to him. "I don't think I can go back to sleep by myself."_

"_Okay little one," Grandma Tracy said as she reached over and lightly stroked through the blond locks. "Scotty can stay with you but you both need to get back to sleep. You have school tomorrow."_

_Then tucking both boys in after they climbed under the covers, she paused at the door to turn off the light and before closing the door she turned back to them. "You boys sleep well and remember what I said about you being in control of your dreams. If you dream about that mean man again, you be sure to beat him up for me, okay?" _

_Giggling softly both boys replied with "We will," as their Grandmother closed the door and left._

_After she left, John curled up on his side facing his big brother. "You dream about the mean man too, don't you, Scotty?"_

_Scott's whole body tensed for a moment before he sighed heavily and turned his head towards John. His cobalt eyes looking unsettled as he replied softly, "Yeah, Johnny, I do dream about him sometimes and he tells me the same thing. That he wants us and that he will get us someday, but you don't worry, Johnny. I won't let the mean man get you, okay?"_

"_Okay, Scotty," John said. "I won't let him get you either. I promise." _

_Both boys lay there looking at each other for a few moments before they both closed their eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep. _

With this memory blazing through his mind and remembering his promise to his brother, John imagined himself with blinding speed and launched himself at the demon.

The demon parried the fist John threw after gaining his feet, but John wasn't about to let him get away. He could still see his brother lying motionless on the ground a few feet away and it sent a fiery rage coursing through him. In his rage, he imagined himself stabbing the demon over and over as it screamed in agony at his feet. The second he thought it, he felt the heavy weight in his hand of a dagger. He saw the demon's red eyes widen in shock as he sliced towards its throat. The demon ducked the strike, but landed a blow to the back of John's knees, swiping his feet from under him and he hit the ground hard. His breath left him in a rush, and gave the demon enough time to recover and pin him to the ground. It wrapped its clawed hand around John's throat, as John struggled to regain his breath and throw the demon off him. The dagger had landed just out of his reach when he hit the ground and he struggled to get to it while grasping the demon's hand and trying to dislodge it from his throat. Just as darkness started to consume him, the demon let out a pained cry and fell to the side, releasing his tight grasp on John.

Stunned and not knowing what happened, John rolled to his side to push himself up from the ground. It was then that he saw his barely standing and bleeding big brother standing there holding the dagger as black blood dripped from it and sizzled as it hit the ground.

The demon had pushed up to his knees and held a hand to the bleeding wound at his side. His evil red eyes narrowed on the brothers as he hissed, "You've won this round, but I will have you both before it's over with. This isn't over." Then with those words said, the demon vanished in a swirl of black vapor.

The second the demon vanished, Scott fell to his knees and listed to the side as the pain lanced through him. John had gained his knees and lunged. Catching his brother and pulling him into his arms, holding him tightly. Scott's face was pale from blood loss and his breathing was wrong. John knew that Scott was hurt really bad and wondered how he had found the strength to help him. "Don't try to talk, Scotty. Just hold on and let me get us somewhere safer, okay. I'll take care of you. I promise. Just don't move or talk. You let me take care of everything. I won't let him hurt you anymore."

Reaching a hand covered in his blood up to lightly touch John's face, Scott smiled even as pain flared in his eyes. He didn't speak, but in that light touch he let John know that he heard and understood. Then his hand fell to John's chest where he gripped his shirt in a fist as his whole body went rigid with pain before he collapsed and fell unconscious. Startled, John immediately checked Scott's pulse and made sure he was still breathing. After finding what he was looking for he carefully lifted his brother into his arms and started walking back towards the ravine face. He'd seen a small cave there as he had made his way downward and wanted to get Scott there so that he could build a fire without it being seen and treat his brother's wounds. It wasn't until he was laying his brother down inside the cave entrance that he wondered what had happened to Summer. She had disappeared the moment that he had lunged at the demon. John prayed that she was okay and was awake in the hospital room.

After checking Scott's breathing and pulse again, John wondered how he was going to build a fire without leaving Scott alone. "I could really use a pile of wood and a box of matches right now," he thought to himself. Suddenly, there in front of him was just what he had asked for. Not really believing it, John reached hesitantly and found that it was real as he touched the wood and picked up the box of matches. Feeling relief flood him, he quickly set to work on building a fire and then turned his attention to treating his brother's wounds. "Come on, Scotty, don't give up now. We're going to figure something out and get you out of here and back home where you belong. Just hang on a little longer, big brother. Just a little longer."

* * *

Back in the hospital room, Doc and Virgil were still trying to get Jeff to let go of Scott's body.

"Jeff, you need to let us take care of him now. I promise that he's in good hands and we will treat him with the utmost respect, but you need to let him go."

"He's gone, Dad," Virgil said as a fresh stream of tears fell from his eyes. "You have to let him go now so that we can get him ready to take home."

Looking up at his son and Doc, Jeff shook his head vehemently and tightened his hold on his oldest son's body. "I can't do it. I can't let him go. I have to hold him so that he's not afraid. I can't have my Scotty being afraid."

"He's not afraid anymore, Dad," Virgil said in a whispered voice that broke slightly with pained emotion. "You know that Scotty wasn't afraid of anything. He was the bravest and strongest of us all. He was only afraid of losing one of us. That was the only thing that ever scared him, Dad, and you know it. He only felt fear at not being able to take care of us or losing one of us. Let him go, Dad. Please, just let him go so that we can take him home. I want to take him home to the island."

Reaching over and touching his brother's still face, Virgil lifted his eyes to look out the window. As his tear filled eyes focused, a gasp escaped him as his entire body went rigid with realization. Before he could get the words out, the door behind him burst open to admit a breathless Alan and Gordon. Gordon flung himself at Doc as Alan raced to Virgil's side and clasped Scott's hand.

"Y-y-you h-have to t-t-turn back on th-the ma-ma-machines, NOW," Gordon gasped as he grasped Doc's shoulders. "Johnny is still asleep," he continued as he reached up and forcibly turned Doc head to so that he could see John and Summer's still forms sleeping on the cot by the window. "Johnny is with Scotty and he's not going to let Scotty leave us. You need to turn on the machines so that Scotty can breathe. Please Doc, you have to turn them back on, now!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of the Thunderbirds except in my mind.

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter to you guys. It's been hectic with life and the general drama that comes with all family. Thank you to all who read my story and review. Your reviews brighten my day! Thanks to my beta, Sam1, who is the bestest friend a person can have. I'm truly blessed to have you. Well now that I've gotten over the mushy stuff and the disclaimer let's let you get to reading.

Oh, btw…WARNING…WARNING…WARNING!

Definitely a tissue warning and some piss your pants action for this chapter. LOL

**CHAPTER 18**

"Gordon, he's been down too long. Even if I did turn on the machines and he started breathing the damage has been done. Scott was barely showing any brain activity to begin with. Now, I'm not sure he will even be able to recover at all," Doc said as he watched Gordon reach to pick up the breathing tube. "If Scott starts breathing again, he'll never wake up, Gordon. His brain has been without oxygen for too long and there will be significant damage."

Gordon didn't say a word he just glared at Doc. Sighing, Doc turned back to look down at Scott. He'd have to reinsert it down Scott's throat, but he'd do it even if he thought it was pointless. Doc didn't see any way that Scott was coming back. It must have shown on his face because Gordon's glare hardened and he grabbed Doc's arm in a hard grip, before growling. "I don't care if you think this is a waste of time. That is my big brother and there is nothing that will keep me from putting that tube in myself if you don't want to do it. John is going to bring Scott back. I know he will. He's like Scotty and he never fails us when it counts. So, you either put the damn tube in or back the hell up and let someone else do it."

Jeff slowly removed his arms from around Scott's body and stood up. He slowly made his way around the bed to stand to the side of Gordon and Doc. Reaching out, he gently turned Gordon to him and stroked a hand through his son's red hair. Leaning forward, he placed his forehead against his son's as he whispered Gordon's name. "Gordon."

"Doc's right," Jeff continued as he wrapped his arms around Gordon and pulled him against his chest. "Scotty's been gone too long and there will be permanent brain damage. He'll be a vegetable, Gordy. He won't be our Scotty. He will be just a shell and he'll lay there in that bed with machines keeping him breathing and alive. I can't do that to our Scotty," Jeff whispered as tears once again threatened in his pain-filled eyes. "Scotty wouldn't want to live like that and I couldn't stand seeing him live like that."

"But, Dad," Gordon, Alan and Virgil started at the same time.

"No," Jeff said. "No buts. Scotty is gone and he's not hurting anymore. It's killing me, but I'm not going to let Doc hook him back up to machines just to keep us from having to feel his loss. We have to let him go, even though it's killing us to do it. We have to let him go."

Gordon didn't say a word after his father let him go. He just stood there with pain ripping out his heart and watched as the same pain ripped through Alan and Virgil at their father's words. All three brothers looked as their dad turned and placed a kiss on Scott's temple. Then stroked through Scott's dark hair one more time before walking over to Gordon, Alan, and Virgil and embracing all three of them.

"I'm going to go and get things ready to take Scotty home. You boys stay and say your goodbyes. Doc and I will be back once I get things arranged," Jeff said stoically. He tried not to sound harsh and cold as he pushed the pain of his son's loss down with all his might. He knew he hadn't succeeded as he saw the pain flashing across the faces of his sons, but he had to think and the pain was making it so hard to do that. He needed Scott. Jeff needed Scott to smooth things over. Scotty was the one who knew just what to say and do to make everything okay again.

Releasing his boys, Jeff turned and slowly followed Doc from the room. All the while asking himself, "How am I going to do this? How am I going to make it through this without it killing me?"

Watching their father leave the room with Doc, Gordon suddenly ran to the door and locked it the moment the door closed behind them. Spinning around, he looked directly at Virgil and growled, "Hurry, Virg. Grab that tube and put it back in so that Scotty can breathe. I'll watch the door and make sure that Dad and Doc don't come back in until it's done. Alan, you help Virg and get those machines hooked back up and get that IV back in."

Virgil hesitated as he looked from Gordon to Alan to Scott and back to Gordon. He wasn't sure that this was good idea. Even if Johnny was in the Shadowlands with Scotty there was no guarantee that Scott would start breathing again or actually survive it. Everything that Doc and their dad had said was true. Scotty would be in a vegetative state for sure. The brain damage would be beyond anyone's ability to heal from. Even Scotty. Besides, he wasn't sure that he could put the tube back in without help because of Scott's injuries. "Oh God," he prayed in his head. "What is the right decision and what do I do?"

Virgil noticed that Alan didn't hesitate at all as he watched their youngest brother reinserting the IV's and getting the machines ready to turn back on. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked himself at the same moment that Gordon's angry impatient voice asked the same question.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Virg?" Gordon asked. "Get the lead out!"

Suddenly, there was a small hand gripping his, and Virgil looked down to see that it was Summer. She was looking up at him with dark eyes filled with worry and determination. "You have to hurry, Virgil," Summer said as Gordon and Alan also stopped what they were doing to look over at her. "Don't let your fear of what may or may not happen keep you from getting that miracle you're wanting so badly. Don't let your fear make you doubt yourself. Scotty believes in you and your brothers. That's why he's been fighting so hard to get back to all of you. His love and faith in you is what keeps him fighting. Isn't it worth it? Tell me, is Scotty worth that risk? Even if you try and it doesn't work and he doesn't breathe or wake up, isn't he worth the try? Worth the fight?"

Those words sank in and jump started Virgil's brain. With his mind made up, he waited till Summer let his hand go and stepped to the foot of Scott's bed. "Yeah," Virgil said as he got his ass in gear. "Scotty was definitely worth the risk and the fight. All his brothers were, but definitely Scotty," he said to himself as he immediately reached for the breathing tube and prepared to reinsert it down his brother's throat.

Summer went to stand over by John as the three brothers prepared to restart the machines the moment the tube was in place. After a few minutes had passed, the machines started and Summer knelt down next to Johnny's sleeping form and leaned down. "You have to hurry, Johnny," she whispered in his ear. "We don't have much time left. You have to bring him back with you now or the evil will take him from us and he won't come back. Hurry, Johnny. Hurry!"

* * *

Back in the cave, John startled as he heard Summer's voice breathe in his ear. "Hurry, Johnny! Hurry!" At first, John didn't know what she was talking about, that is until he realized where he was. Looking down at his big brothers battered face, John immediately started trying to wake him.

"Wake up, Scotty," he said. "You have to wake up now." Getting no response, John raised his voice. "Scotty, you have to open your eyes and wake up, RIGHT NOW!" Still there was no response from his big brother. John was getting desperate as he realized that Scott was just too weak from blood loss and exhaustion to awaken.

The fire that John had started suddenly began to flicker as a cold chilling wind whipped inside the cave and wrapped icy fingers around John and Scott. A shiver of panic ran down John's spine as he realized the demon was coming for them.

"Damn it," John cursed as he wondered how he was going to protect both himself and his unconscious brother. He needed to think of something fast. Something that might get his brother awake and moving. He knew that there was no way they could stay inside the cave. The would only be trapping themselves inside if they did. It would be more of an advantage for the demon that it would be for the brothers.

Lifting his brother and looping Scott's uninjured arm around his shoulders, John lit the end of a torch he'd thought to make, and made his way cautiously towards the mouth of the cave. The cold wind continued to increase and beat against them, but John was determined to get them out of the cave and into the lighter darkness outside. The visibility would still suck, but John would use what he could get.

The wind howled as it grew stronger the closer he moved to the mouth of the cave. John stopped a number of times to shift Scott as he felt him slipping from his hold. Adjusting his brother, he gripped him tighter and then determinedly made his way out into the darkness outside the cave.

The cold chill of the wind lashed against him and he fought against. Dead trees snapped and broke to fly through the air as the force of the wind increase even more. Limbs launched like missiles and only John's fast reflexes kept them from hitting their mark as he flung himself and his brother to the ground. More and more debris flew and John crawled over his brother's unconscious body to protect him from being hit and injured further.

He felt the sharp edges of the limbs as they hit him. He could feel the bruises forming over his unprotected back, but he was determined that nothing was going to hit his brother. Nothing, not even death was going to take Scotty from him. The pain of the debris hitting him was excruciating, but John never moved from his brother. He stayed over him until, suddenly the wind stopped as if someone turned it off and an eerie quiet descended on the night.

Lifting his head, he found himself looking up at the demon's evil red eyes staring down at him. Rolling from his brother, he jumped to his feet and made certain to put himself between the demon and his fallen brother.

"Now, THIS is what impresses me the most about you Tracys," the demon smirked. "Always loyal and protective, no matter the circumstances. This is what I've wanted in my soldiers and followers, but they never show such loyalty. It's disappointing that they aren't like you and your brothers. I've watched all of you since you were born. Scotty shows such promise and could be more powerful than any other demon in my realm, but he has this one flaw that keeps him from being corrupted. A flaw that I'm going to rectify. He's going to be mine, Johnny boy." The demon smiled with his fanged teeth showing. "He won't have a choice and you, my boy, are going to give him to me."

"Your delusional if you think for a second that I'll just hand over my brother to you. I'll never let you have him," John growled.

The demon laughed. "Tell me something, Johnny boy, do you remember all those nice dreams you had when you were little? The ones that made you wake up screaming for your Scotty? The bad man in those dreams that Scotty told you he'd protect you from?"

John hesitated as he tried to figure out what his childhood nightmares had to do with what was happening now. He really wished that he could figure out what angle this demon was coming from. "Yeah, I remember the dreams," he finally said as he managed a nonchalant shrug. "What about them?"

"Well, Johnny boy," the demon said as he smiled evilly and looked directly into John's eyes. "Let's just say that I'm about to make those nightmares come true and your about to meet that bad man you were so scared of." Laughing outright the demon took a step towards John and reached a clawed finger up to his lips to lick the daggered claw mockingly.

"_Oh shit,"_ John thought to himself as he crouched and braced for the attack. His insides quivered with fear, but he knew that he wasn't going to go down without a fight. He was a Tracy and Tracys fought, no matter the odds. Even though fear lanced through him, John met the demon's evil red eyes and in a smirking tone growled, "Bring it, bitch!"

The demon launched himself at John. Slashing with those deadly clawed hands towards John's neck and stomach. John parried and spun to avoid them, tripping as he did so. He fell, but rolled back to his feet, but when he fell he had grabbed one of the many staked limbs the wind had flung at him. As he came to his feet the demon was there and John spun again to avoid another slash of those deadly claws, but wasn't fast enough. The pain of flesh being torn along his side caused him to suck in a sharp breath, but he wasn't going to let it stop him. Even as he felt the blood dripping down his side. The demon came in for another swipe, but this time John was ready and stepped into the attack and tackled the demon to the ground. John drove the sharpened limb downward as they fell and it hit its mark in the demons chest, but was too high for it to have hit the heart. Feeling the stake stab through the demon's flesh, John rolled quickly to get to his feet, but the demon latched his clawed hand on around John's ankle and jerked hard. John fell backwards hard, knocking the breath from himself as he hit the cold ground.

Struggling to breathe, John felt the demon let go of his ankle and watched as the demon crawled towards him while trying to staunch the flow of black blood leaking from its chest wound. John kicked out and struck the demon in the stomach, but the demon only grunted and kept coming. John rolled onto all fours and tried to gain his feet, but was suddenly tackled to the ground and the weight of the demon pressed him face first into the cold dirt underneath him. He tried to throw him off but the demon continued to force him down. John flung his head back and made contact with the demon's face, hearing the distinctive sound of breaking bone as his head connected with the demon's nose. The demon howled in pain, which only seemed to piss it off more, and he grabbed a handful of John's blond hair. The demon yanked his head back so hard that John wondered if his head was going to snap off. Still struggling to throw the demon off, John suddenly felt the hot breath of the demon hear his ear as it whispered insidiously, "Are you ready to give me your brother or do I need to slit your throat in order to get what I want?"

"I'm not giving you my brother, you bastard," John growled through gritted teeth. He was surprised at the bravado in his voice. He knew that he was going to die, but he was going to fight till the very end. He just wished that before he did, he could let Scotty know how much he loved him and that his big brother shouldn't blame himself for any of this. Still struggling, John reached back to grab at the demons hands pulling at his hair and tried to roll, but the demon held fast.

"Good," the demon said as he shifted to keep from being thrown from John's body. "This way I'll have both of you," he smirked as he pulled harder on John's hair bringing a hiss of pain from the young man beneath him. "Time to die, young Tracy. Are you ready?"

Unexpectedly, a rage filled voice growled, "No, he's NOT! But you're right; it's time to die, only it's YOUR time, not HIS!"

The demon let go of John's hair immediately and spun to attack, but it was too late. As he turned a large staked limb punched through the front of his throat and out the back of his neck. The amount of strength to do that was tremendous, but so was the rage in the man that did it. Gurgling on his own blood, the demon fell from John's body as he grabbed at the gaping wound.

John crawled to all fours and then spun to see the demon's body suddenly turn to ash as if a firebomb had blown him from the inside out. Then, his eyes looked over to see Scott kneeling watching the demon die, before slumping to the ground to lie on his side and curl into a ball.

Rushing to his brother, John's eyes filled with tears as the adrenaline left him and he suddenly realized how close to death he'd actually come. Holding his bleeding side, he knelt next to his brother. He sat down and carefully pulled his brother up so that he leaned against him. "Scotty," he breathed as he looked down into his big brother's face. "Thank you for saving me."

His breathing ragged from the broken ribs and other injuries, Scott smiled weakly and whispered, "I promised you I wouldn't let the bad man get you, Johnny."

"I know you did, Scotty," John whispered back as tears now flowed freely down his cheeks. "You always keep your promises, so I want you to promise me that you'll come back to us. That you'll leave these Shadowlands and return to us in the real world. We need you, Scotty. All of us. Please, try to wake up. Please, Scotty," John continued to beg. "Please wake up and don't leave us. We love you. I love you. Please, Scotty, please."

Seeing the anguish in his younger brother's face and hearing it in his voice, Scott wanted nothing more than to do as he asked and get back to them. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare he was in and remove that look from his brother's face and eyes, but Scott knew that he couldn't. He knew that his time with his family was over and that there was no going back.

Reaching up with a blood covered hand, he brushed a tear from John's cheek, leaving a tiny smear of blood in its place. "Shh, Johnny," Scott whispered as his breathing became more and more labored. "Don't cry, little brother."

Tears continued to fall slowly from John's eyes as he leaned forward and placed his forehead against the side of Scott's head so to whisper in his ear. "Please," he begged, softly again.

Turning his head slightly so he could brush his swollen bloody lips softly against his brother's brow, Scott breathed, "It hurts Johnny. It hurts so bad and I'm just so tired." Taking another shallow breath, he continued, "I'm sorry, Johnny, I want to promise you that I'll come back, but I can't. I'm too hurt and I feel myself being pulled away from you. From everything."

"Fight it, Scotty," John pleaded. "Fight it and come back to us. I don't want to go back without you. I won't go back without you," he finished determinedly.

Smiling at his brother's tenacity, Scott shifted slightly so his brother was looking into his face. "I love you, Johnny," he whispered. "Never forget that, but you have to go back now. You've been here too long and you need to take care of our little brothers. You have to be the big brother now.

Shaking his head, John started to protest, "N-!", but Scott cut him off. "Let me go, little brother. You have to let me go and move on. Please, Johnny, promise me that you'll let me go and move on. Go live your life," Scott said, taking another shallow breath. "Stop brooding up on Five and go find you someone that will make you happy and live your life. Please, Johnny?" Scott now pleaded. "Let me go. I'm so tired and I can't stay awake much longer, but this time I'm not going to wake up, Johnny. I don't want to leave all of you, but I can't stay. I'm not going home. We always knew this day would come at some point." Gasping for breath now, Scott whispered as his own tears now filled his cobalt blue eyes, "I'm just glad that it's me and not one of my brothers or Dad."

Neither brother spoke for a long while as Scott's breathing became less and less noticeable. Shivering as Death's cold arms slithered to wrap around him more tightly, Scott's voice was very faint as he quaveringly sighed, "I'm cold, Johnny. It's getting so damn cold."

John knew that his brother was leaving. He could feel Scott's struggle to hang on, but he saw in his brother's eyes that it was a losing battle. He felt his brother's body quiver and he pulled him tighter against him trying to warm him even as he used his thoughts to build a fire. It blazed to life, but it couldn't put life back into his brother's broken body. Still crying softly, John held his brother tight and whispered, "It's okay now, Scotty, I've got you. You can rest now, big brother. You won the fight and now you can rest. I'll keep watch until you're sleeping. Just like you did for me all those nights when we were little. You can let go now. I know I have to let you go. I don't want to, but I know I have to." Leaning forward he brushed a kiss against Scott's brow and whispered against him, "Sleep now, Scotty. Let the angels take you home to Mom."

Lifting his head, he looked down to see Scott's blue eyes looking up at him. Then his brother smiled as something beyond John's shoulder caught his gaze. Scott gasped and the most peaceful look came to his face and he slid his blue gaze back to John's face and whispered, "It's really bright, Johnny. I see brightness and it's so beautiful."

Smiling softly through his tears, John sighed, "It's okay now, Scotty, I love you."

"I love you too, Johnny," Scott sighed as his blue eyes closed and his breathing slowed and finally on a deep sigh, stopped altogether. The moment that he stopped breathing, Scott's body began to fade from John's arms and John felt himself being pulled back from the Shadowlands. Back to the cold hospital room. Back to the reality that his brother was dead and never coming back.

* * *

Back in the hospital room, Virgil, Gordon and Alan had just finished hooking the machines back up when a sharp gasp from the window made them jump and turn towards John's sleeping form. He was awake and tears were streaming down his face as he turned his blue eyes to look at his brothers. "He's gone," he whispered to them. "He's gone."

Stillness filled the room and the only sound was the machines as they kicked back on and started back up. Gordon was the one that reacted first and he jerked himself into movement and ran to John's side. "NO! Johnny, he can't be gone. Scotty never gives up this easily. He can't be gone," he cried.

"Are you sure, Johnny?" Virgil asked in an anguished whisper.

"I was holding him in my arms and he just faded away. He stopped breathing and faded and I woke up here," John said as he lowered his head into his hands and let the tears continue to fall from his eyes.

Alan didn't say a word; he just looked down at Scott's still form and reached over to touch his brother's cold cheek. Just as his hand brushed against the skin of his brother's face, those cobalt blue eyes opened and the monitor gave a shrill alarm as Scott's body jerked and a gasp escaped from his blue lips.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** *sigh* Yet again I have to admit that the Thunderbirds do not belong to me.

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Long time no see. Sorry for the delay, but a lot has been happening here. Dealing with new job, family drama, and tornado damage put me in a writers funk but I'm back now and hopefully you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter. To everyone that has reviewed. THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I love reading how much you're loving the story. I hope that you love this chapter equally as much and hope that you continue to give your feedback. To Sam1, I thank you for being there when I need you and for being the best beta and friend in the world! Now let's get down to business. READ UP AND ENJOY ! Oh, and just to be safe, a tissue warning is being issued.

**CHAPTER 19**

At Scott's gasp, Gordon, Virgil, John, and Summer rushed to the bedside. Alan had placed his hands on either side of Scott's face and was making soothing "shh" noises. Everyone watched the flush of life run the length of Scott's body that had been grey with death just moments before but now had color filling it again. The machine pushed oxygen through Scott's body, but there was no other movement other than the slight rise and fall of his chest. The heart monitors registered a heartbeat that was weak and uneven at first, but soon picked up a steady rhythm.

Everyone stood very still waiting for life to spill into those cobalt blue eyes, but even as they remained open, no life came to them. They remained empty. Just staring into nothing. There was no recognition. No panic. No nothing.

Alan continued to talk soothingly to Scott, while Virgil began checking his vitals and making certain that he was getting enough oxygen. Gordon and John had each gently grabbed a hand, but there was no movement to clasp their hands back. Scott's burned injured hands just rested in theirs, limply.

"Alan," Virgil said quietly, "Move your hands and let me check him for a second."

Alan moved his hands from Scott's face and let Virgil check their brother's pupils for reaction to light. Virgil checked them for a few moments, and then checked them again. Alan, from where he was standing saw the pained look cross Virgil's face when he stood back up straighten before turning back to the others.

"So?," Gordon asked. "Is he going to be okay? Is our Scotty back?"

"His pupils are reacting, but sluggish," Virgil said softly as he rose from leaning over to check Scott's blood pressure. "His blood pressure is stabilizing, heartbeat is steady and in a good rhythm."

"That's good, right?" Gordon asked again as he gave his fallen brother's limp hand in his a reassuring squeeze.

John had moved up closer and stroked down the side of Scott's face and he leaned over and whispered Scott's name. "Scotty?" Still, there was no response. No recognition. "Scotty, please?" John begged quietly. "Please come back to us. You're back with us. You're safe. Come on, big brother, look at me."

Suddenly there was a noise at the door and Doc and Jeff's voices were heard outside. When they discovered the door was locked , Jeff pounded on the door and in his stern commander's voice said, "Boys! Open this door, RIGHT NOW!"

At first, none of the boys moved. Then Gordon , hesitantly went over and unlocked the door to the ICU room. The door flung open as soon as the lock clicked forcing Gordon to jump back a little to avoid being hit in the face.

"What have you done?" Jeff growled as he made his way, with Doc following, into the room. "What have all of you done?"

"Dad," Alan said as he stepped in front of Jeff before he reached the bed. "Scotty's awake, Dad. He's awake."

Jeff couldn't move as the words Alan had spoken stopped him in his tracks. Shock flooded through his veins so quickly that every muscle in him locked into place. Then hope flew through him at the thought of his Scott alive and awake, but just as that thought soared in his heart, another more devastating one overcame it. The realization that Scott might be alive and breathing, but the length of time had been too great. Time that his already injured brain was without oxygen. There was no possible way his Scott could recover from that. If Scott was awake, it still wouldn't be his Scotty lying in that hospital bed. It would just be a shell of the wonderful young man that his son was.

It took Jeff a few more moments to steady his thoughts before he realize that Doc had already made his way over to the bed and was checking Scott's vitals. It was when Doc pulled his penlight from his coat pocket and shined it into Scott's open blue eyes that Jeff was finally able to get his body to move forward.

Making his way over to the side of the bed, Jeff reached over and gently stroked the side of Scott's battered face, and in a low whisper said, "Scotty." Seeing his son's eyes open was both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Wonderful because for some reason those blue eyes let him know that his son was alive in some strange way, but terrifying. Even from where he was beside his son he could see that there was nothing of Scott in those blue depths.

Doc straightened and looked over at the boys as they stood silently around the bed watching their father gently stroke their brother's face. "How long has he been awake and breathing?" Doc asked. "Has he been unresponsive the entire time?"

"He woke up about ten minutes ago and yeah, he's been unresponsive the whole time," Virgil whispered softly.

"Jeff, I need to do some tests. It's a miracle that he's even awake and breathing, but I need to do some tests to check him out," Doc said as he laid a hand on Jeff's trembling shoulder. "He was down a long time, Jeff. I need to see what we're looking at."

"What you're saying is that you need to see how much brain damage there is," Jeff whispered as he continued to look into Scott's blank gaze.

Doc just looked over at Jeff and nodded. He didn't say a word, but he was very concerned about the length of time that Scott had been down. He was also concerned about the neck injury and needed to be certain they re-stabilized it before they took him for tests. Doc didn't want to mention this to Jeff because he could see that his friend was already anxious enough about Scott as it was.

"Jeff," Doc said quietly as he watched his friend gently touch his son's face, "I'm going to get my people in here and get things ready for the tests. I'll need you and the boys to wait in the hall so we can get Scott ready."

"NO WAY," Gordon protested. "Can't one of us stay in here with you while you do the tests on Scotty? I mean, at least let Dad stay."

"No," Doc said as he walked around the bed and placed a hand on Gordon's shoulder. "You boys and your father need to wait in the hall. I'm going to take good care of him," Doc said gently when he saw the other boys getting ready to protest. "I promise."

"Bu-," Alan started to protest.

"No, Alan," Jeff interrupted in a firm tone, "We're going to all wait in the hallway and let Doc and his team do what they have to do." Jeff never took his eyes from Scott as he stroked the bruised cheek. "_Oh God, I'm not sure I can bear losing him again. Please give me a miracle. Oh God, please let my Scotty be okay_," Jeff prayed to himself as he blinked rapidly to try to keep the tears at bay.

Even though the boys wanted to continue to protest, they had heard that tone many times before and knew that it was a losing battle. So they just nodded at their father and silently turned and prepared to leave the room.

Summer, who had been standing back watching from the corner, never said a word. She made her way silently over to the bed and waited until the brothers turned to leave the room. They stopped short when they realized she was standing behind them.

John reached forward and gently brushed a strand of her long black hair from her face. He saw that there were quiet tears falling down her cheeks and he knelt down in front of her, trying to ignore the pain of the bleeding cuts and bruises forming on his body from the fight with the demon. He was just lucky that his family hadn't noticed his injuries yet.

"What's wrong, Summer?" he asked gently even as he felt his panic rising at her tears. "Why are you crying?"

Summer didn't say anything, but moved around him to go over to stand at the side of the bed where Scott lay. She stood there looking at Scott as the tears continued to fall from her brown eyes. It wasn't until she felt Jeff place a gentle hand on her shoulder that she took her eyes from Scott and looked up at Jeff for a brief moment. Turning back to the bed, she carefully leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Scott's cheek. Before she straightened, she whispered something in Scott's ear, placed her hand over his heart and then stood up.

Turning around, Summer saw that John still knelt on the floor and she flung herself at him. He caught her instantly, wincing at the jolt of pain as her little form slammed into him. Recovering quickly, he lifted her in his strong arms and hugged her gently to him. Summer buried her tear streaked face in his neck and continued to cry silently the moment he pulled her close.

Just in the few days that they had been there, John could feel a difference in how light Summer was. She felt so very fragile and John could feel her little body trembling slightly as he lifted her in his arms and swayed gently trying to soothe her.

"I'm tired, Johnny," Summer whispered to him softly. "Can you take me to my room so that I can rest?"

"Absolutely, little one," John whispered back as he turned with his brothers to leave the room.

Jeff remained standing at the side of his son's bed for a moment more before he also turned to leave. They had all reached the door when Doc called to them.

"Hey, John," Doc said as he looked up from Scott's chart that he'd been studying." I'm going to have Doctor Mason come and check on Summer for me while I'm working with Scott. If you could take her directly to her room and get her settled I'm going to go ahead and let him know to meet you guys there."

"No problem," John replied as he continued to gently stroke the Summer's back. "We'll get her comfortable." Then they all turned and left with John hesitating for a second before walking from the room. He stopped in the threshold and turned slightly to look back at his brother lying so still and quite in the bed. A feeling of panic washed over him at the thought of leaving Scotty, even if his big brother was with Doc and the other nurses that had walked in just moments before. A panic that continued to keep him immobile until he felt the little fingers curl into the hair at his nape, and a softly whispered, "Scotty's okay," soothing the flood of adrenaline building through him. Only then, was he was able to turn from his brother and walk from the room and down the hallways to Summer's room.

Taking Summer over to her bed as soon as he walked in, John gently lay her down and he and his brothers immediately began arranging the pillow and sheets. Soon enough they had her all tucked in. Summer never spoke but smiled up at them before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Evening Dove, Summer's grandmother, was sitting in the chair next to the bed and had watched the Tracy brothers fuss and fret over her granddaughter. Amusement played in her eyes and a gentle smile spread across her face. With all the Tracys trying to outdo the other, she had a difficult time trying to stifle the laughter behind her hands.

She knew that her granddaughter had little time left, and that the Great Spirit was going to be taking Summer to the Meadowlands soon, but she knew that Summer would be okay. Evening Dove and Summer both knew that Summer's destiny was still not fulfilled, and Summer still had a big part to play in the wounded Tracy's recovery. Everything was laid into motion and the Great Spirit had set the time table, but Evening Dove's smile never faltered because she knew that Summer had been chosen for this journey. It was a great honor to be chosen for such a destiny and even though Summer's body was weakening, her little spirit was stronger than ever.

The Tracy men all had that kind of strength, also. That strength would be what helps them through the next part of their journey. Even as the knowledge of what was to come filtered through her mind, Evening Dove never wavered in her faith in the Great Spirit, nor her granddaughter and the Tracys.

Jeff walked over beside Evening Dove and knelt beside her, once he and his sons finished getting Summer tucked in. "I have no words to express how much I appreciate Summer watching over Scott. She is a great comfort to me and to my sons just by being there. She has such a sweet spirit and she reminds me a lot of my Lucy. The boys and I would love to sit in here with her, while Scott is going through his tests, if that is okay?"

Placing her hand over Jeff's, Evening Dove smiled gently at the handsome man kneeling beside her and nodded. "I think that Summer would be very upset if she woke and you and the boys were not here. She has become quite attached to your boys. She has told me that she always wanted to have big brothers and that she thinks of your boys as such. So please stay. You'll not only be here for my granddaughter , you'll all be keeping an old woman company and giving me something to do other than sitting here like a fat frog on a lily pad." All the Tracy men laughed softly at Evening Dove's comment, and Jeff winked up at her as she laughed with them.

"I don't see an old woman here or a lily pad, so I think we'll stay anyways in case she shows up," Gordon said as he walked over and took her hand as if he were a suitor and placed a gentle kiss upon her knuckles. Shaking her head at the red-haired Tracy's charm, Evening Dove tsked and leaned over and placed a kiss on Gordon's cheek. Not expecting that, Gordon blushed slightly and then went over to sit by the window as his brother's and father tried to hide their amusement.

After everyone got settled, a knock at the door turned everyone to look as the door opened and Doctor Mason walked into the room. He was smiling as he started to walked in until he saw the men from International Rescue and his smile faded as a look of deep sympathy filled his eyes.

Doctor Mason had heard about the IR member that had been injured and was lying in a coma in the ICU ward of the hospital. The security was so tight because of it, that everyone was walking on eggshells. Afraid that even a slight fart in the wind would get you tackled, everyone was so on edge.

The entire ICU staff had been briefed on the need for privacy and were told they would instantly be fired and their licenses revoked if they so much as breathed the true identities of the IR members to anyone outside the hospital. All staff members working on the ICU floor had been devastated by the news that the brave man had suffered horrible injuries and despite the efforts of the doctors and nurses, he had died during the night.

Doctor Mason had even seen Doc Masters with the IR Commander making the arrangements a few hours ago to have the young man's body transported back home to their home base. However, Doc Mason and the others on the floor were shocked to hear just moments ago, that the young man was now awake, and tests were being done to determine how much brain damage had been done. It wasn't a matter of "if" there was brain damage, but more a matter of "how much."

Walking into the room, Doc Mason introduced himself to Evening Dove and then moved over to Summer's bedside and checked her IV, trying not to wake the sleeping child. "So, how long has she been asleep?" he asked Evening Dove as he reached and checked Summer's pulse.

"Not long at all," Evening Dove replied as she watched the young doctor checking her granddaughter's vitals. "She was really tired when she got back to the room. These nice gentlemen got her settled then she went out like a light."

Doc Mason frowned, "Has she been getting tired and feeling weaker since starting the new treatments?"

Evening Dove looked over at the doctor and nodded. She knew that the treatments had stopped working and that her granddaughter wasn't responding to the new treatments they had started her on. Summer's little body had been through so much and it was not going to make it through this last round of treatments. Evening Dove could already see the weakening aura around Summer's tiny body and knew that it wouldn't be much longer. It appeared from Doctor Mason's look on his face that he had come to the same conclusion. Doctor Masters had already told Evening Dove that this was the last chance of getting the leukemia in remission.

* * *

The Tracy men were standing over by the window and Evening Dove could see that the look on the doctor's face had not gone without notice. They all saw the look of deep sadness and regret pass Doc Mason's face before realized it was showing and covered it up with a half smile.

John's body had begun to ache with more intensity as he watched the doctor check Summer's vitals and examine the details of her chart. From the window where he was standing with his family, he could see that the doctor didn't like what he saw either in her vitals or her chart. The look on his face was one that he had seen Doc Steven give when he told them that Scotty wasn't going to make it the first day that they had gotten there.

The injuries from his fight with the demon were nothing compared to the ache in his heart at the knowledge of that tiny vibrant beautiful child lying in the bed was dying. From their journey to the Shadowlands together he felt as if he were connected to her in some strange way. He couldn't bear the thought that he might be losing his brother and this enchanted child all in the span of a few days. He was too weary and hurt and John just wanted to have his big brother be okay and Summer to wake up all better. John knew that his exhaustion was catching up to him and that his injuries were getting to him, but he couldn't help what he was feeling. He hated feeling so helpless to do anything. The more and more that he thought about it the more his head began to hurt.

John swayed as a wave of dizziness washed over him and he closed his eyes to try to get keep the vertigo at bay. Suddenly hands grabbed him by the shoulders and he was pulled against a strong chest. "Johnny," Jeff asked. "Are you okay, Son?"

John hurt too bad and he felt too weak to answer outright, so he slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around his father's waist and just let his father hold him as the dizziness rolled over him, wave after wave.

Soon other hands were touching him and he didn't even care. They all seemed to be trying to steady him and he was glad for the help. He wasn't sure, but he definitely believed that he had either lost more blood than he thought or he was just that tired. All he knew was that he was glad that his family was holding him because at that moment he lost consciousness and let the blackness take him.

Jeff had seen John swaying and had instantly reached and took hold of his shoulders to steady him. He pulled John to his chest and knew immediately that something wasn't right and that Johnny was in trouble because none of his sons liked to be held in public. It was then he felt Johnny lift his arms and weakly wrap them around his waist. Jeff's others sons immediately reached to help steady John. The moment their hands touched their brother, Jeff felt John go limp and he and the others helped to gently lower him into a chair that Doctor Mason pulled across the floor.

Sitting John into the chair, Jeff pulled away a few inches so that Doctor Mason could check John's vitals. As soon as Doctor Mason opened up John's uniform they saw the reason for John's weakness. There was a large bruise forming around his throat and deep seeping wounds covering his chest, arms and a deep bleeding slash along his side and abdomen.

"We need to get him in a room A-SAP," Doctor Mason said. He had checked the young man's pulse and it was weak and thready. His injuries were pretty extensive, but the only one that looked to be the most severe was the one along his side and abdomen. That one was the one that needed immediate attention.

"Damn it, Johnny," Jeff breathed as he lifted John into his arms and followed Doctor Mason from the room. "Why are all of you boys so damn stubborn and unwilling to get help when you need it?"

Doctor Mason led Jeff and his boys down the hallway to the room that had been set up for them. Opening the door, he allowed Jeff to walk in first and called for a nurse while Jeff lowered John gently down onto the bed.

* * *

Darkness. There was nothing but endless darkness on either side of him. There was a light shining brilliantly before him, but he couldn't move towards it. It was as if something were holding him back and keeping him from it. The other light was behind him. This light was dimmer and not as brilliant but he could move towards it, but each time he did he felt pain slam into his head and body. So for now he was just standing in the darkness trying to gather himself enough to make a decision.

He knew that he was dead. Scott knew that Johnny had been holding him when he felt Death take him and bring him to this place. He just couldn't figure out why he was still stuck in-between. It was like he was being given some sort of choice, but he wasn't sure if he was thinking clearly enough to make a choice. It was hard to think . The longer he stood in-between the more he felt his thoughts becoming more difficult to keep. It was like he had some sort of ADD. Like he couldn't concentrate on just one thing, but more like billions of things all at the same time running through his head. Scott had never felt so lost.

Scott took a step forward and couldn't move any further than that. So he turned and walked towards the light that had been behind him. The closer he got the more and more his head felt as if it were going to explode. Pain lanced through his head as well as his chest and leg. Suddenly it was like a flood of pictures forced themselves through his brain all at once. The pain of it driving him to his knees and he clutched his head pulling at his dark hair trying to relieve the pressure of the memories as they took him back to the bridge. He saw the faces of the dead and the couple and their baby that he had found in that SUV that were still alive. He heard his brother and his dad scream his name just before the explosion. He felt the pain as the debris hit his body and sliced through his head and his leg. He felt his flesh burning and felt the burning stop as he hit the cold burning debris filled water below the bridge.

Screaming as these memories bombarded him, Scott clutched harder at his head and fell to his side and curled into a ball. He continued to scream as the pain worsened and became unbearable. So unbearable that he screamed and prayed for release from it.

As he lay there, trembling and screaming until he was hoarse with the pain. Tears fell down his cheeks as more and more pain engulfed him with each memory that tore into his brain. So engulfed in the pain, Scott didn't realize he was being lifted until he felt his hands gently disentangled from his dark hair and his head was pressed against a warm chest. Somehow the strong beating of the heart beneath his ear filled him with warmth and made him feel an immediate lessening of the pain racking his body. The pain was still there, but less brutal in its assault, as Scott was held and a hand stroked gently through his hair.

"Easy, Scotty," a familiar voice said as Scott finally opened his eyes and looked up into a face he thought to never see again. Shock registered through him, until he pulled himself together enough to speak through the pain in his head.

"Johnny," Scott breathed. "What are you doing here?"

Smiling, John shrugged slightly and replied, "I'm not sure, but I think I'm here to take you home, Scotty." John had been shocked to see his brother curled up on his side in the darkness, screaming and clutching at his hair in agony. John had ran to him immediately as he stepped from the light and immediately reached to lift his fallen brother against him and try to help to ease the pain. It seemed to help with the pain the longer he held his brother, but he wasn't sure if Scott could tell a difference or not. All John knew was his big brother had stopped screaming and was now lying against his chest and trembling. John could see the pain still in Scott's eyes, but he felt that his brother was just too shocked at seeing him to feel it as severely as he had before.

"I was lost, Johnny," Scott whispered. "I couldn't think and I didn't know which direction to take. I only know that this way hurts, Johnny. It hurts bad. I just want to go home, but I'm not sure if I can."

"I think you can, Scotty," John said as he pulled his brother closer to him to try to warm him and help with his trembling. "I think that you can go home and I'm here to help you. Do you think you can stand." Feeling his brother shake his head, John spoke up again, "I'm going to help you get up and you can lean on me if you need to , but we need to get going. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be here and I want to get you home before something else happens."

"Yeah," Scott snorted softly. "Something like more demons or something worse?" Scott asked as he let his brother help him slowly to his feet.

"I'm not sure you can get much worse than a demon Scott," John grunted as he had to catch his brother's full weight as Scott's balance faltered. Steadying his brother, John lifted his brother's arm and linked it over his shoulder and looked into Scott's face.

Scott had closed his eyes as nausea and dizziness rolled and the pain started getting worse as he stood. Luckily, John was there with a steadying hand and het was grateful for the support as John linked his arm around his shoulders and pulled him to his side. After a few seconds the nausea and dizziness subsided but the pain was still there.

"Come on, big brother. Let's get you out of here and back home," John said as he slowly started walking towards the dim light ahead of them.

Both brothers walked slowly forward as Scott struggled to put one foot in front of the other. It became more and more difficult with each step, but he pushed through it until the pain became too great and he couldn't ignore it any longer. Scott's legs buckled suddenly and he and John both fell to their knees, but John quickly gained his feet again and lifted his brother into a fireman's hold.

"Joh-," Scott started to protest, but right then a flare of pain slammed into him and he cried out as it exploded inside him.

John immediately put Scott down and held him as spasm after spasm of pain caused his body to seize and jerk. After a few minutes, Scott's body stopped spasming enough that he was able to speak. "Hu-hu-hurts, Joh-johnny," he stuttered through clenched teeth, as his body trembled with the aftermath of the seizures. "Ca-ca-can't g-g-go a-any mo-mo-more. I-I'm tired a-a-and h-h-hurt t-t-t-too much. P-p-p-pain is ba-bad, Joh-Joh-Johnny."

"I know, Scotty, but I'm getting you home whether you want to go or not. I'm not leaving you here," John said as he gripped Scott's arm. "Now, you can either get up and walk or I'm carrying you, big brother. What's it going to be?" John demanded as he noticed the light becoming dimmer and his own body vibrating with some sort of urgency. "I know you're hurt, Scotty, but you have to get up. Don't let us down, you promised that you'd never leave us and you've always kept your promises. Even when we were kids. Just a little further and I promise I'll be right there waiting for you."

Scott heard the fear and urgency in his brother's voice and focused his gaze on the light they were trying to get to. It was then, he noticed that it had become dimmer and a new fear washed over him. A fear that his little brother might get trapped here with him, while trying to get him back home. That thought gave him a renewed strength to push past the pain and a resolve that helped get him to his feet as Johnny pulled him up. He wasn't about to let his brother down. He was going to get to that light with his brother, come hell or high water or demons. It didn't matter but he would be damned if he was not going to get his brother out of here, and he knew that the only way to get John to safety was to go with him.

Sighing as pain pulsed through his body, Scott breathed, "Okay Johnny. Let's get out of here."

Helping his brother to his feet, John again pulled Scott to his side and they both started forward. John could feel Scott struggling to push past the pain he was feeling, but he didn't stop. He knew that they couldn't wait any longer and they needed to get through that light as soon as possible.

Finally, they were there. The light was just one step in front of them and all they had to do was walk through, when Scott suddenly went still.

"What's wrong?" John asked as he tightened his grip on his brother.

"I'm scared Johnny," Scott whispered as he stared into the brilliant light before them, hating that he was even admitting that to his little brother. He'd never feared anything except losing his brothers, until this moment. "I remember what happened and I know that my injuries are severe. I remember the explosion and debris hitting me. I remember burning and then the cold water. Will I even be able to move, Johnny? Will I be able to still be a Thunderbird or even your big brother?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Scott," John said. "You're hurt really bad. There's a lot of damage, but you'll always be a Thunderbird and you absolutely could NEVER stop being our big brother. That is something you're going to be forever. No matter what happens when we get to the other side, we are all going to be there for you. We're going to work through it and get it figured out."

Turning his head to look at Johnny's face, Scott took a deep breath and then with his little brother holding him tightly to his side, they both stepped into the light.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** *sigh* Yet again I have to admit that the Thunderbirds do not belong to me.

**A/N:** TISSUE WARNING TISSUE WARNING ! Sorry for the delay in getting this one posted. This was actually a really difficult chapter to write and especially difficult for my wonderful beta to read over for me. Sam1, you know that there's a special star up there watching over you and that anytime you need her, she's there. I'm dedicating this one to her and for all those out there fighting the good fight against all forms of cancer/leukemia. You are all true warriors!

**CHAPTER 20**

Several days had passed. Doc and his specialist's team were still doing tests on Scott trying to see what treatments would be best to help in his recovery. Every test they had done so far was inconclusive. The brain scans would show a specific area that was damaged, but then in the very next frame it would show normal brain function. It was strange. Doc nor any of his staff could explain it. At first they thought that it was the machines and the scans themselves, but when it happened with every test they preformed, Doc realized it was something else. What, he didn't know, but it definitely wasn't any of the tests.

Doc had put Scott back into his room and he was being monitoring very closely. He showed some signs of cognitive thought, but nothing substantial. He did seem to become very agitated when people touched him or if one of his brothers left the room. It wasn't as if he moved or showed any signs of recognition, but you still felt that he was in there somewhere and was seeing what was happening. It was mostly those cobalt blue eyes of his. They would cloud over with this darkness if someone touched him, as if he was angry that you had the audacity to touch him without his permission. It was interesting to see that cloud disappear from his eyes and the light come back to them as soon as you stepped away from him.

He wasn't sure if it was what had happened to Scott while he was in the coma or when he had died, but Doc and his family could see that it had not been a pleasant experience for him. There was a weariness that you just felt coming from him. A bone-deep weariness that let you know that Scott had fought something very difficult to get back from wherever he had been. Now everyday was just a waiting game. Doc and his staff had done everything they could do, but now it was a matter of Scott's body working to fix as much of the damage that it could. It would probably take a long while, and there was no guarantee that it would be a full recovery, but it would be something at least. Even just a little of the old Scott back would be better than Doc's best friend having to bury his oldest son. Doc wasn't sure that Jeff and his boys could take very much more.

Sighing, Doc reached the door of the ICU room where Scott and John both were being kept and monitored. After John's collapse in Summer's room, he had been given a blood transfusion to replenish the blood he had lost from a large laceration across his side and lower abdomen. The fact that he had not yet regained consciousness was disturbing, but all John's vitals showed normal levels and Doc was sure that he would wake soon enough. He showed signs of exhaustion, and that was beside the fact that he had been on Thunderbird Five for over a month. The change in atmospheric pressure and add on to that the trauma of what happened to his brother it's no wonder the young man was exhausted.

Pushing the door open, Doc entered the room to find Jeff sitting between Scott and John's beds. His head tilted back against the back of the chair and his eyes closed in some much needed sleep. Even in sleep, the lines of worry for his sons showing on his face. Gordon was sitting on the bed beside Scott, whispering to him and stroking his burned hand gently in a comforting manner. The sound of the respirator made a click-hiss sound in the otherwise quiet room. Alan was lying on the bed beside John. His blond head lying beside the other blond head of his brother on the pillow with his arm wrapped securely around John's waist. Virgil was standing against the wall in the far corner of the room just watching. Standing as a sentry would, looking for the first sign of trouble.

Virgil and Gordon both turned to look as Doc walked into the room. Each nodded a greeting as Doc approached Scott's bed quietly.

"How long has your father, Alan, and Scott been sleeping?" Doc asked as he reached over to gently take Scott's wrist to begin checking his vitals.

"A few hours," Virgil replied as he walked over to the bedside so he could watch what Doc was doing to his brother. It wasn't that he didn't trust Doc, he just wanted the reassurance that his brother wasn't being disturbed by what was happening. Virgil had already warned Gordon not to wake Scott, but to be quiet and to let his body rest so that it could heal more quickly.

"Do you know when John will wake up?" Gordon asked in a whispered voice looking up as Doc stood back and wrote Scott's vitals information on the chart.

"He should be waking soon, Gordon. John is going to be fine when he wakes up from his sleep. His body just needed the rest because it was exhausted and the blood loss from his injury made that exhaustion just that much worse. So he should wake up soon and be feeling much better," Doc reassured the red-haired Tracy as he reached over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I just want him and Scotty to wake up and be okay," Gordon said softly as he again reached to take Scott's hand and hold it gently in his own. "I want to go home and forget that all this ever happened and just-just," Gordon sighed heavily while shaking his head. "Oh hell, I don't know what I'm trying to say. I can't even think. All I know is that I can't lose my brothers. Any of them, and if it means that all of us have to stop being Thunderbirds, then I think that's what we need to do."

Stricken, Virgil looked sharply at Gordon. "Gordon! You don't mean that do you? We've always known what could happen to us on missions. We do what we do because we save lives and that's what the Thunderbirds do."

"Yeah?" Gordon demanded sharply. "But at what cost to us? I know that we have always known that one of us or all of us could be killed or injured on a mission. I know this, but damn it, Virgil, this was too damn close for comfort. I can't get the image of that bridge blowing and Scott flying over the edge and hitting that water out of my head. I see it every time I close my eyes. I hear the explosion like it was happening all over again and I hear myself and Dad screaming Scotty's name."

Walking over to his brother and putting an arm around him, Virgil leaned close, placed a light kiss on his brother's brow and whispered. "I do, too, Gordon. I see it all the time myself, but we can't let this beat us. We have to be strong for Scotty and you know yourself that he wouldn't want us to be thinking like this. He would be very upset if he thought we would stop being Thunderbirds, just because of something like this. He was doing the job, Gordon. Our Scott was getting the job done. If we let what happened to him make us doubt ourselves so much that we forget the reason why the Thunderbirds do what we do, then we are dishonoring his sacrifice and the people whose lives we saved on that bridge."

It took a few moments but Gordon eventually looked up at Virgil. "You're right. Scott would be pissed if I let my fear get the better of me. In fact, don't tell him any of what I just said because when he gets better he'd probably hold my head under water until I passed out. That's after he kicked my butt all over the island."

Chuckling, Virgil ruffled his brother's red hair. "Oh, don't worry. I won't say a word so long as you stop playing pranks on me."

"Oh man," Gordon rolled his eyes. "I just walked right into that blackmail, didn't I?"

"More like jumped in with both feet," said a groggy voice from the other bed.

Everyone moved at one time and suddenly Doc, Gordon, and Virgil where all standing beside John's bed. Jeff had awoken at the sound of John's voice and was leaning down to gently hug his second oldest son by the time the others got to the bed.

"How you feeling, Son?" Jeff asked as he pulled away and brushed a lock of blond hair from John's face.

"Like I got hit by a big truck, but other than that, I feel okay," John replied with a slight smile. "How's Scott? Is he okay? I brought him back through the light." John attempted to sit up to look over at his brother. "Has he said anything yet?"

Jeff pushed John gently and made him lie back down before he asked with a hint of confusion, "What light, Johnny?"

"Scott is still the same and he hasn't said a word. He's still hooked up to the respirator. His lung isn't strong enough yet for it to be removed," Doc explained as he reached to check John's vitals. "Scott's condition hasn't changed while you've been asleep. He's still unresponsive and shows no signs of recognition."

"So, how long was I asleep?" John asked.

"Three days," Doc replied as he finished writing John's vitals information in his chart.

"WHAT?" John said as he bolted upright before Jeff again, pushed him back down on the bed. "What happened? Why was I asleep so long?"

"You had a deep laceration and blood loss. You were suffering from exhaustion already, and your injury just made it worse. Your body just couldn't go on without some rest so you collapsed," Doc explained trying to calm John's panic.

"So, it's been three days and Scott is not responding at all?" John asked again.

"No," Virgil said in a calming voice. "He's still the same, but he's at least holding his own."

John sighed and let his head fall back against the pillow before turning and planting a peck on Alan's blond head. "I can't believe that he's still asleep," John smiled as he turned back to his dad.

"Yeah well, he's been awake for over 24 hours and you know as well as I do that when he's that tired he sleeps the sleep of the dead," Gordon smirked.

"True," John laughed. "So how is Summer? I know that she wasn't feeling well when I last saw her. Did the new treatment show any signs of working?"

"She's like Scotty over there," Doc replied while trying to hide the pained look on his face. "She's holding her own."

"The treatments aren't working, are they?" John asked, watching Doc's face go from pained to sad.

Doc looked up to notice that four pairs of Tracy eyes were looking at him and watching him closely. Shaking his head, he replied sadly, "No, the treatments haven't been working for a while now. We're just trying to keep her comfortable at this point. There's nothing more that we can do other than that."

"Surely there's something else that can be done? Jeff questioned. "A specialist of some kind? Some other experimental drug? If it's a matter of funding in order to get her the treatment that she needs then you don't have to worry. I'll cover the bill."

"Jeff, I wish that it was that simple, but it's not," Doc sighed. "The problem is that every specialist has already been consulting with us and we have tried every new experimental treatment that we could find. The cost has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that her little body is just too ravaged from the leukemia and the results of the treatments. She's just too weak to undergo any further treatments. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how she's held on this long." Tears began to fill the doctor's eyes as he admitted what he had known all along.

"No," Gordon said roughly as he tried to keep the pain from his voice but failed. "She's just a kid. She can't die. I mean, people survive leukemia all the time and Summer's not even ten-years-old. She has her whole life ahead of her. We have to find something. Anything."

"We're not giving up on her, Gordon," Doc replied. "Medically we've done all we can."

"Can we see her?" John asked quietly. "I'd really like to see her if it's okay with her Grandmother."

"Actually," Doc said as he looked over at John, "Summer has been asking for you and her grandmother said to let them know when you woke up. I'll be heading there in a few minutes to tell them you're awake. It's really late so you won't be able to see her tonight, but maybe tomorrow. You all need to get some more rest, and I mean ALL of you. I want all of you to lay down, close your eyes and get some much needed sleep. My staff is here and we'll be monitoring Scott the entire time. There's no reason for any of you to not sleep."

"That's okay, Steven," Jeff said. "I managed to get some rest so I'll stay up with Scotty, but Virgil, Gordon, Alan, and John, you boys lie down and rest."

"Okay, let me put this another way," Doc said in his Head of Surgery voice, "You are ALL going to sleep or I will have my staff come in here and sedate all of you. I have seen all of you stay awake for days watching over Scott and I'm stopping the insanity now."

Jeff saw the determination in his friend's face and knew that there would be no further protest. Nothing could change Steven's mind once he made a decision, so Jeff nodded his head in acknowledgement and told his sons to do what Doc said and get some sleep. Jeff watched as they started to protest, but stopped short with a sharp look from Doc. Chuckling, Jeff walked over to Scott's bed and gently kissed his son's temple before sitting back down in the chair between the two beds and closing his eyes. Virgil and Gordon had gone over to the portable cots by the window and lay down. For once not protesting as they let sleep take them even before their heads hit the pillows.

Soon every Tracy was sleeping soundly and after checking John and Scott's vitals once more, Doc turned and quietly left the room.

* * *

Several hours later, John awoke to the sound of Summer's voice in the room. He sat up slowly and turned to see Summer sitting on the bed beside Scott. One of her little hands lying over his heart and her sweet voice chanting a song as she stroked Scott's hair with her other hand. John quietly got up and walked carefully over to his brother's bedside and sat down in the chair closest to Summer.

Summer just smiled as he sat, but never stopped chanting her song. Even as she sang, John felt this peaceful energy surrounding the three of them. Every fear seemed to slip away as Summer's melodic voice filled the room with its enchanting decadence. It was as if the entire world had stopped moving and was just listening to this child sing. Summer sang to Scott the whole time and John just sat there listening to her. Not once did John speak. He only listened as she filled the room with the peaceful gift of her song and its light to clear away the darkness that had surrounded them for so long.

As the last notes of her song filled the air, Summer leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Scott's cheek and then leaned over to do the same with John. Turning back to Scott she whispered, "Everything will be okay now, Scotty. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Your journey is almost over. There is one last leg of your journey, though, but I will be there when you need me. It is my destiny. You and I will always be linked and I will never be far away."

Then, hopping down from the bed, Summer walked around the bedside and took John's hands in her little ones. "Will you take a walk with me, Johnny?" she asked quietly. "I want to go out on the patio and see the stars. Will you come with me?"

John didn't know why, but he felt he needed to go with her. He just felt it was important that he go. So nodding, he got to his feet and let her take his hand and they both walked from the room.

Walking along the corridors, it was as if nobody saw them. There was no sound other than Summer humming quietly as they seemed to float down the hallways. It didn't take them long to get to the doors for the open patio. Once outside, John sat down on a lounge chair and pulled Summer onto his lap as they both gazed out into the clear night sky.

"Do you see those three stars, Johnny?" Summer asked as she pointed to the three brightest stars in the night sky that made a perfect triangle. "Those stars are very special."

"How so, little one?" John asked quietly as he looked up at them as Summer leaned back against his chest, resting her head just below his chin.

Pointing to the biggest one that was the top of the triangle, Summer whispered, "That one represents the Great Spirit. It's the biggest and brightest. It lights up the night sky and shines down upon the other stars in the sky and upon us as the Great Spirit watches over us all. The Great Star is the one that keeps away the darkness so that evil cannot win. The Great Spirit enfolds us in his arms and takes us to this star before we go into the Meadowlands when the soul passes."

Then pointing to the next brightest, Summer continued. "That one is the one that our tribe says is for mothers. That is the star she sits upon to look down on her family so that she can keep them safe. She sits there and hears all your prayers. She laughs when you laugh and sheds tears with you when you cry. She's the Mother Star. The one that all mothers sit upon to watch over their children and husbands."

Then pointing to the last star, Summer smiled softly as she reached up her hand and appeared to hold the star in her tiny hand. "That star is the Star of Destiny. This star holds all that is past, present, and future. Every twinkle this star makes is a warrior's soul fulfilling its destiny. Every warrior whose destiny has been fulfilled is led to this star and the souls of the warriors that have gone before meet you there and lead you to your home in the Meadowlands. Every warrior that dies in battle against evil are embraced by this star and they help to watch over the other warriors who are still fighting. Grandmother says that this is the star that I will sit upon. So, this is my star."

Turning, Summer reached up and placed her tiny hands on each side of John's face. The beauty of her words had touched him so deeply that tears slowly fell from his eyes as she gently wiped them away. "My entire life I always wished for a brother or brothers," Summer whispered softly. "I will never forget you, Johnny, or your brothers and father. You have all taken a special place in my heart and I will hold you there forever. Especially you and Scotty. Just remember that I love you all and I'll always be watching over you no matter where you are."

"We love you too, Summer," John whispered back as he took her small hand in his. Then just as the sun began to rise over the horizon, Summer put her arms around John's neck hugging him tight for a few moments before pulling away. "It's time to wake up now, Johnny. Scott will be waking soon and he'll need you there with him." Then she smiled and disappeared just as the sun rose up and illuminated everything with its orange-golden light.

John awoke with a gasp. He found himself back in the ICU room and his father and brothers reaching for him as he bolted upright in the bed.

"Easy John," Jeff said soothingly. "Are you okay, Son? Did you have a bad dream?"

Shaking his head, John felt the wetness on his cheeks and realized that he was still crying. Wiping at the dampness with the back of his hand, John tried to stop the tears from flowing but he couldn't.

Jeff pulled his son into his arms and tried to get John to tell him what was wrong. That was when Doc knocked and walked slowly into the room. Seeing the sorrow on Doc's face, Jeff knew instantly that something bad had happened.

"What's happened, Steven?" Jeff asked as he pulled John closer and looked over to where Scott appeared to still be sleeping.

"Just before dawn, Summer's little body gave out and she passed peacefully in her sleep," Doc said quietly.

"That's not possible," Gordon said as he moved around the bed to stand in front of Doc. "Summer was just in here this morning. She was singing to Scotty. I remember hearing her singing and for the first time in the past week feeling like everything was going to be alright. There's no way that she died this morning, because she was right here with us the whole time." His eyes filled with tears and the loss of the little girl he considered a little sister even within the short time he'd known her.

"Gordon's right," Virgil and Alan both said at the same time. "We all saw and heard her singing to Scotty."

"I heard her, too," Jeff said as he looked over at his friend. "She even kissed me on the cheek as well as all the boys before she left the room right before the sun hit the fully lifted over the horizon."

"Jeff, I was in her room trying to bring her back way before the sun came up," Doc admitted.

Before anything else could be said, a whimper came from Scott's bed and everyone turned at once and immediately ran to his bedside.

Cobalt-blue eyes filled with panic as Scott attempted to lift his arms but found that he couldn't move anything below his waist. The thing down his throat was making him feel like he was choking and he couldn't breathe. "I need to get it out," he screamed inside his head. "Please somebody help me?" he prayed, "Please?"

Strange faces were above him and the panic grew into even larger proportions. Strange men were reaching for him and talking to him, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. "Who are you?" he screamed at them in his head. "What do you want? Please get away. Oh no, please, please don't touch me." He closed his eyes tightly and tried to force his arms to defend himself.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere a calm soothing voice whispered through his panic. "Easy, Scotty. It's okay, you're safe now." Scott opened his eyes to see the crystalline blue gaze in a face he felt he recognized, but couldn't remember from where. All Scott knew, was that this man wouldn't hurt him. This man would help him. If only he could remember how he knew that and remember his name.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Tracys or International Rescue.**  
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**A/N: **Sorry for the long delay in updating but real life has been a pain. Thanks to Sam1 for beta'ing once again for me.**  
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**CHAPTER 21**

Scott slowly became more aware of his surroundings. He heard an incessant beeping noise beside him, but he couldn't seem to move his head to see what it was. There was also a clicking noise that seemed to be what was pushing air into him from the tube down his throat. It was very disconcerting, but for some reason it didn't frighten him now, nearly as much as the people that were standing above him.

Well, that is, except for the blond haired man sitting beside him. He was still trying to figure out his name and where he knew him from. It was like there were these pictures in the back of his mind but every time he reached for one it would fade into the background and the memory just wouldn't come.

He tried to lift his arms but they just wouldn't cooperate no matter how hard he tried. It was like his brain couldn't access anything below his chest, and that worried him. The more he tried to move the more his panic rose as he struggled to get his body to do what he wanted it to do. What really worried him was that he couldn't feel anything. It was as if his whole body was numb. "_Oh God," _Scott prayed as he closed his eyes against the tears of frustration that formed and began to slowly slide from his blue eyes._ "What's going on? Why can't I move and remember where I am?" _

John reached over and gently placed his hands on each side of Scott's face. The panic in his big brother's eyes tore at his heart. He could see the confusion and fear in those cobalt depths worsen as Doc took his penlight and moved to check Scott's pupil reactions.

Pain exploded behind his eyes and through his head. It felt as though someone was trying to bash his head in, the pain was so intense. Scott clenched his eyes closed, trying to block the light and a whimper escaped from him. It felt as if his brain short-circuited, forcing his eyes to roll back into his head as images flashed rapidly through his brain.

"Oh, God," someone yelled. "He's seizing."

Scott felt a sense of flying. Soaring through the air at incredible speeds. The feel of the controls in his hands of the machine he was flying. Then the pictures in his head changed and he could hear people screaming. Faces flashed through his mind's eye of people who were dead or injured. Floods, earthquakes, rumbling avalanches, fires, explosions. All of the pictures flooded through his mind…men, women, and children broken and bleeding.

A collage of scenes featuring the men who had been standing or sitting near him suddenly played in his head. The dark haired one painting and sitting at a piano, playing as if his heart was breaking. The older dark haired man sitting behind a desk gazing at a picture of a woman with a sad smile on his face. A picture of the redhead in a hospital hooked to machines looking sad, but then walking from a pool with a smile on his face. The blond kid doing homework, then of the young blond asleep in a bed tossing from a bad dream along with a feeling of how soft that hair was as he gently stroked a hand through it trying to soothe the crying boy.

The most vivid images were of the other blond. The one that had sat next to him and told him just moments before that he was okay and safe. The blond sitting at a control panel eating a chocolate bar as he smiled at something that was said. Seeing the blond through the visor of a helmet, lying among smoking and fiery debris with one hand still on the control panel and blood trickling down the side of his face from a head wound. That same blond young man fighting a creature, then lifting Scott into his arms and holding him. Then Scott reaching up and telling the young man that he needed to let him go.

Suddenly, the images faded and a sense of loss ran through him along with a blazing pain that seemed to flood through his veins. Scott could hear voices telling him, "Easy," and "It's okay, Scotty. You're going to be okay just roll with it." He didn't know where the voices were coming from, but in some part of his brain he knew they were coming from the men that had been standing beside the bed. They were actually soothing in a way, but Scott wasn't sure why. All he knew was that his head felt as though it were going to explode. His body felt strangely disconnected. Only the rapid and painful beating of his heart seemed real as it pumped fiery blood through his veins. Scott was certain that he had been screaming his head off because of the pain, but no sound emerged because of the thing in his throat. It only made him feel as if he were choking as his throat worked around it trying to make a scream.

Scott kept his eyes tightly clenched shut, and it took a few moments to realize that the whimpering that he heard was actually coming from him. Everything seemed too distant and vague. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew it wasn't good. It was as if he couldn't hold onto one thought. There was a flurry of images still playing in his head and he was unable to make sense of any of them.

After a while, he finally decided to open his eyes. He was alarmed when it took him a while before he could focus. Everything was blurry and he realized it was tears, only when the blond man beside him gently brushed one away with a finger tip. The pain seemed to leave slowly as the blond's hand stroked through his hair. Scott felt the need to rub against that hand in his hair, but whatever the thing that was attached to his head prevented him from doing it. So looking up at the blond, Scott hoped that the he could see that he didn't want him to stop. The blond reassured him that he was safe and okay as Scott felt weariness overtake him and he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

"Shh, Scotty," John said gently as he reached and stroked a hand through Scott's hair. "It's okay now. Doc won't do that again anytime soon, so you just relax. I'm right here. We all are and we're not going anywhere. Everything is going to be okay. Promise."

Doc continued to monitor Scott's vitals. The severity of the seizure worried him. The head trauma from the explosion and lack of oxygen made for a grim recovery prognosis. What worried Doc was that there was still no sign of recognition, nor any indication of movement since he awoke. Once Scott relaxed into sleep, Doc turned towards Jeff who had been standing beside him throughout the ordeal. He needed to let Jeff know that Scott's third round of tests were coming back and they all showed signs of severe damage to his brain and to other organs in his body. The amount of time that his body had been deprived of oxygen when he coded had caused permanent and irreversible damage. The thought of having to explain this to Jeff was killing Doc, but he knew that Jeff needed to know that his Scotty was never going to be the same. What hurt and surprised him the most was the feeling that maybe it would have been best if Scott had never woke. That he should have stayed in the coma and then faded away, beyond the reach of his stubborn brothers, so that they all could be spared the inevitable outcome. Now, there was no going back. The damage was done and all Doc or anyone could do was make Scott as comfortable as possible and give him what life they could.

Looking over at his friend, Doc reached over and placed a comforting hand on Jeff's shoulder, but Jeff never took his eyes from Scott. Doc could see from the play of emotions fleeting across Jeff's face that he was struggling to hold his composure. They had spoken a few days earlier about what the repercussions would be if Scott were able to pull through and wake up. Jeff had watched as Doc and his team of specialists and nurses preformed the tests. He never left Scott's side for longer than it took to get something to eat, drink or to take a quick bathroom break or shower. Jeff was trying his best to be strong for everyone but Doc knew that he was holding it together only by a thread. It was going to be a big transition for all of them to get used to. Doc wasn't so sure that Jeff and the boys were going to adjust so well to the medical realities of Scott's condition. He prayed they did, but there is a point where you just have to go with what your given.

After a few more moments, Jeff turned to face Doc. The pain of knowledge was in his eyes as he reached up and placed his hand over Doc's on his shoulder, then nodded towards the door.

"I need to speak with you outside, Doc," Jeff said as he made his way slowly to the door. "I'll be back in a moment boys." He glanced back towards the bed for a moment before pulling the door open. Then he walked from the room with Doc following close behind.

Once outside the door, he walked down the hall until he came to a window that overlooked the hospital courtyard outside. The sun was just beginning to lower and the sky was filled with hues of pink, purple and orange. It was as if the sky didn't know exactly what color it wanted to be so it mixed them all together making everything look beautiful as if a backdrop in a painting. Like the sky, Jeff's emotions were mixed and swirling. Placing his hands on either side of the window pane, he leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window and sighed heavily. He clenched his hands and fought the tears that threatened to fall. He could feel his pain, grief, and anger clawing at his throat in a desperate attempt to yell at the powers that be for putting him and his family through this hell. For making his Scotty suffer when all he had tried to do was save someone's life. His heart beating faster and faster with every breath that now felt like the worst kind of agony as tried to fight back the panic attack he knew was coming.

"We *breath* should *breath* have let *breath* him go," Jeff forced out quietly between gulps of air before he collapsed to his hands and knees. "Oh God, we should have just let him go."

Doc didn't say a word as he pulled his friend around and sat him against the wall before pushing his head down between his knees. What could he say? Those same thoughts had just run through his mind as well not even five minutes before. It just hurt seeing his friend hurting so much and how hard it was for Jeff to actually admit something like that to himself. The guilt alone of even that very thought, now had his friend in the throes of a major panic attack. That and the pain of knowing that your son who was once this strong, athletic, smart young man would possibly never be that way again.

Jeff's gasping soon turned to heart wrenching sobs as he wrapped his arms around himself and let Doc embrace him while the rollercoaster of emotions erupted after being held in for so long. He didn't know how long he sobbed against his friends shoulder, but he was glad that Doc hadn't said anything. His friend just sat there and held him until the tears and sobbing gasps calmed to a silent gentle glide down his flushed cheeks. Jeff became aware at some point, of two nurses making their way towards them with concern in their eyes, but Doc had motioned them away with a shake of his head. The two nurses hesitated only a moment, but then walked back down the hall. Jeff didn't move and Doc just continued to hold him to his side until Jeff was finally able to lift his head and take the first deep breath in a long while.

Pulling away, Jeff sat up placed his elbows on his knees, and ran his hands through his dark hair. "So now what?" Jeff asked without looking up. "What are our options? What do we have to do to make things better for my Scotty?"

Doc sighed heavily and looked over at his friend before he spoke. "We need to just concentrate on getting him healed as much as possible right now, Jeff. He's still not out of the woods yet. The leg injury alone could be one of our biggest problems if we don't watch it closely. The injury to the femoral in his leg was quite bad. That and the seizures he seems to be having more frequently could be a deadly combination.

The tests results came back and show there is substantial damage to the cervical spine in his neck. Dr. Thompson said that the swelling in the area was constricting the blood flow and that the longer the swelling remains the worse the damage. If the swelling goes down in the next day or so, then there is a chance, albeit a small one, that at some point Scott will regain the feeling and movement in his body below the injury. If the swelling doesn't go down, then Dr Thompson said that the damage would be irreversible, paralyzing him for the rest of his life. If that happens, his breathing on his own could eventually become impossible and he'd be on a respirator and feeding tube until the day he leaves us.

There's damage to the liver, spleen, and lungs that we have to keep a watch on also. Being without oxygen for so long didn't help and caused irreparable damage to them all. As for the head injury -", Doc said, only to be interrupted by Jeff's pained voice.

"No, you don't have to tell me that," Jeff interrupted. "I can see for myself that the brain damage is extensive. It's as if I'm looking at a shell of my son. There's nothing inside his eyes except pain and confusion. There is no recognition at all and the only reason he lets John anywhere close is because my Johnny was there and made him feel safe."

Sighing heavily Jeff continued, "My God, am I a horrible father for wishing that my son had stayed dead? Am I a bastard because I want my son to be like he was and I don't want me and my other boys to have to sit and watch him suffering? Then, on the other hand, am I selfish because I don't give a shit what is wrong with him just so long as I can see him alive and breathing? Tell me, Doc," Jeff pleaded as he looked over at his friend. "Tell me what I'm supposed to feel, so I don't feel so damn guilty. Guilty for wishing, one moment that my Scotty would just stop breathing so I don't have to deal with all this and make these hard decisions, and then in the very next moment just being grateful that he's alive. I'm so damn afraid of losing him, but I guess that I've already lost him in a way because of the brain damage."

"Oh God, I'm so confused, " Jeff said as he continued to rake his hands through his hair. "I don't know how I'm feeling and I can't even keep a clear thought in my head. How the hell am I supposed to make decisions when I can't even think or understand what it is that I'm feeling?

I know that I handle life and death situations all the time, but DAMN IT. "This is my son. My beautiful Scott. My second-in-command. The one voice of reason when I can't see any. Have I just depended on him too much to be there when things get rough? Is this just my punishment for keeping him to close and not letting him have a life outside of the island and IR?" Sighing, Jeff shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry. I know that I'm rambling and not making much sense. I just feel so damn responsible for all of this, and I feel guilty. How the hell can I want my son to die? That's not me, Doc. You know that's not me, right? Please tell me that I'm not some selfish sadistic asshole that just because he can't cope with the outcome would rather see his son dead than be some shell lying there unable to speak or move."

Doc looked over at his friend. "No. You're not a selfish, sadistic, asshole. I'm not the one to judge you for how your feeling, Jeff. In my experience from being a doctor I've seen many people feel the same exact way and it's absolutely normal for you to be conflicted in how you feel about this situation. There's no right way or wrong way to feel. You just have to "feel" it. I think that you need to sit down with the boys and all of you discuss how all of you are feeling. I don't think that you are the only one feeling conflicted. Your other boys are not oblivious to the situation, Jeff. They know full well the changes that all of you are going to have to make in order to make the best choices for Scott. Virgil, alone, already suspects that there is too much brain damage. He's sought me out since the day Scott woke up and discussed what treatments would be best. I really think that you and the boys need to talk it all out, and do it soon. I know that you don't want to, but the others need to know the full results of the tests and what they will mean for Scott's future."

"I'm not telling you to give up hope," Doc continued. "I'm just saying that you all need to prepare for every possibility. Be it good, bad or somewhere in between. Miracles happen every day," Doc whispered. "I've seen young men and women wake up from death itself and open their eyes. I've seen you, Scott, and your other boys pull miracles out of your asses on missions that nobody should have walked away from. That is, when the damn media is lucky enough to be around to catch IR in the act. If anyone can pull off another miracle and survive this tragedy, it's Scott. You know as well as I do that even if that boy is never the same , he's always going to be a fighter. It's going to be a long hard road, but he's got enough stubbornness in him from you and Lucy that I've very little doubt that he'll somehow bring about that miracle. Hell Jeff, He's already a living, breathing miracle."

"You're right," Jeff admitted. "I should talk to the others." Pushing himself to his feet, Jeff turned to see Doc get to his, then placed his hand on his friends shoulder. "Thanks for letting me fall completely apart on you like that. I hope to one day be able to repay you for all you've done, Steven. I don't really know what else I can say to let you know how much I appreciate what you and your staff have done to help us. Thanks just doesn't seem to be enough."

"You know that you don't have to thank me, Jeff. I brought all those boys into the world and I've doctored them since they were children. I would do anything to protect them and help them. I see the lives that you and your boys save every day. We are all basically in the same line of work, and that's saving lives I don't need thanks for doing what I love to do and helping people. Let's just concentrate on getting Scotty well, then I'll let you know what you can do to thank me," Doc said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

A half smile lifted the corner of Jeff's mouth as he whispered, "alright" Then both he and Doc made their way back towards Scott's room.

* * *

Back in the room, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan sat quietly watching their big brother as he slept. John continued to stroke his fingers through what was left of Scott's hair. It was just a few minutes after Jeff left before John turned to Virgil and whispered, "I can't stand feeling so damn helpless. I can't stand seeing the pain and fear in his eyes when he looks at all of us. I can't stand knowing that there is nothing we can do except wait and see if he recovers from all of this. I know there's a lot that Doc and Dad are not telling us. I saw it in their faces as they walked out of the room.

Please guys," John pleaded, "please tell me what you know, because I know right now is that Scott's not recognizing anyone and he's not doing so well. Please, Virg, if you know something you have to tell us. We need to know what we are dealing with here. This not knowing is killing us all."

At first, Virgil didn't respond. He didn't want to tell his brothers about the conversations that he'd had with Doc for the last few days. As he looked around the room at his brothers he knew that he needed to tell them. Turning back to John, Virgil took a breath and then gave his brothers the news he'd been dreading and trying to ignore.

"You guys remember the other day when I went down to the lounge to get coffee? I was gone for a good while and when I got back to the room Gordon asked me where I'd been." When all his brothers had nodded their heads, except for Johnny who'd been still sleeping because of his injuries at the time, Virgil continued. "Well I did some digging and I was able to get my hands on Scott's test results."

As John opened his mouth, Virgil held up a hand to interrupt the question that he knew his brother was just about to ask and said, "Let's just say that the information fell into my lap and leave it at that." Once he saw John close his mouth and Gordon and Alan shift uncomfortably, he continued. "The first set of tests that Doc did were, for some reason, marked "inconclusive." It was strange to see the scans and workups. In one frame they would show damage, but then the very next frame there was no damage. It was crazy. Like his body was going through some sort of transformation and he was correcting the damage in his body, but then the damage would show up somewhere else. I've never seen anything like it. Apparently, Doc and his staff hadn't either. It was so unexplained that they even took the time to test their equipment to see if there was a glitch somewhere in their system and with the equipment itself. Everything checked out perfect on the equipment, but the second round of tests showed the same results. So again they all came back inconclusive. The third round of tests, unfortunately, showed a different result." He wasn't as sensitive as John but he was damn close and his brothers could see the emotional turmoil in his stance and eyes.

" Oh my God, I wish with everything in me that I'd never seen those results," Virgil whispered as he lowered his head and looked down and then closed his eyes. "If I could take that knowledge and pluck it from my mind I swear I would." His words were soft but then tapered off as he fell silent, trying to calm himself.

Getting up from where he had been sitting, Gordon made his way over to Virgil's side and lifted Virgil's chin gently before asking in a soft tone, "You okay, Virg? You have to tell us what they said."

"He's right, Virg," John said from the bed where he sat next to Scotty. "You have to tell us what we're going to be dealing with. I can see that it's bad, but we need to know. No matter how horrible it is, we need to know."

After nodding his head at Gordon, Virgil took a deep breath before he continued. He knew that his brothers needed know and they would do everything they needed to in order to help Scott. Funny, knowing that didn't make it any easier to tell them. "Severe organ and brain damage," he said as he finally reopened his eyes and looked at his brothers. "There's damage to his liver, spleen, lungs, and brain."

He paused as the next words got stuck in his throat, but after a few deep breaths he continued. "From what the scans and tests showed it's irreversible. Not something that will kill him, but it's going to make things challenging for him. He has damage to the cervical spine, but we already knew that he had a broken neck. It's still a waiting game to know the extent of the damage to his spinal cord itself, until the swelling goes down. His leg injury is of some concern because of the femoral artery that was damaged. They're concerned about infection setting in because of the river water and the debris they had to clean out of it when they fixed it. It's already showing some signs of infection, but they are pumping antibiotics through him in the hopes it will ward it off. They're also concerned with blood clots forming because of his lack of movement and the amount of damage his entire body sustained."

Alan, who paled even more than usual, walked over and gently stroked a knuckle down the side of Scott's face before look up at John, Virgil, and Gordon. "If a clot forms we could lose him again. Couldn't we, Virg?" Alan asked quietly.

Tears were forming in his blue eyes as he fought to keep them from falling. He knew it was a losing battle the moment that Gordon walked over and reached to place a soothing hand on his shoulder. "Why, Gordy?" The tears he'd tried to hold back fell from his eyes. "Why is this happening to Scotty?" Alan shook his head as he tried to find his voice through the tears. "He saved that little baby, guys. Scotty saved that kid and was trying to save his parents, so why does God want to punish him? Oh God, Gordy. If he can't fly, what's Scotty gonna do? Would Scotty want to live if he can't walk or fly anymore? Do you think that he'll be mad at us for bringing him back?"

The tears were now flowing steadily down Alan's pale cheeks as his brothers tried to console him, but even as they tried, they wondered the same thing. Alan was voicing what all three of them had been thinking, but just didn't want to say themselves. Alan had turned and placed his blond head on Gordon's chest.

Gordon looked up at John and Virgil as he held onto their little brother who was now crying silently against his chest. "Out of the mouths of babes," Gordon murmured to them as they all three locked eyes. Eyes that held the same exact pain, fear and hope. Eyes that locked onto the door as it opened slowly to admit their father and Doc back into the room. Eyes that watched as Jeff and Doc approached the bed with grim faces. Eyes that locked onto their father's face as he said the five words they were dreading to hear. "Boys, we need to talk."

No one in the room noticed the slight breeze that entered the room and gently lifted the hair of the young man lying injured on the bed. Not one person noticed the slight flicker of the lights, the light scent of summer rain that filled the room, nor the shimmering cloud, like dew drops on an early morning meadow, in the shape of a small figure next to the bed. Nobody heard a sound as the figure leaned over, placed a gentle kiss to Scott's cheek, then whispered, "It's okay now, Scotty. We still have one more journey to travel. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** Hey guys, guess what. I still don't own the Thunderbirds, *sigh*. Oh well, maybe someday.

**A/N:** Just wanted to let you all know that I appreciate the all the readers and the reviews. They make me smile just to see how many of you are liking my story and reading it. I want to thank all of you and, of course, thank my AWESOME SUPER BETA, Sam1 for being the best beta and friend a girl could ever have. I do want to give you a warning about this chapter. It was supposed to be in a totally different direction, but the second that I started typing it flowed out to be something entirely different than what I had first thought. I hope that you love it as much as I did. I swear I cried, laughed hysterically, and then cried some more. So, I'm definitely issuing a TISSUE WARNING and a HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER WARNING for this chapter. Again, thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy! - Mystikstorm

**CHAPTER 22**

The boys stood stoically as Jeff and Doc gave them the detailed version of Scott's condition. With each word Scott's doctor said, the fear of losing their oldest brother escalated that much more. Yet, each tried to hide the anguish they felt from not only their father but also from each other. Afterwards, Doc convinced Jeff, Alan, Gordon, Virgil, and John to take a walk outside to get some fresh air.

"Besides," Doc shrugged, "if you guys get sick then who is going to help us with Scott's therapy when the time comes? So, you guys go out. Go do something to get out of this hospital for a little while and I'll call immediately if something changes with Scotty. Even if it's just to the cafeteria, to a room to get some much needed sleep or the damn gift shop when it opens in a few hours. You guys need to get out of this room for a little while."

Doc saw that John and Jeff both balked and started to protest, but he held up his hand and stopped them before they could even get their mouths opened. "Okay," he said more firmly, "let me make this a little more clear for those of you that are hard-headed. It's not a request, me asking you to leave for a few hours. It's a DAMN ORDER. You will ALL get out of this room and you will ALL not come back in here until 0800 or unless I call your asses. ARE WE CLEAR GENTLEMEN?"

"Da-amn," Gordon said wide-eyed. "I actually felt like I needed to stand at attention and salute you there for a minute, Doc."

"Yeah, me, too," Alan said as he half grinned in Doc's direction. He started smiling even more when Gordon move closer to Doc and laid his head on his shoulder.

The smiling turned to full out laughing from everyone in the room when Gordon looked up from Doc's shoulder and batted his eyes and in a high-pitched girly voice said, "Your sooooo handsome when you get all growly and give orders like that, you sexy beast, you."

Doc tried to keep a straight face, but Gordon's antics where always just a little too much for him to remain unaffected by it. He snorted out a laugh as the rest of the men in the room joined him. Jeff laughed as he leaned back against the wall and just shook his head. John and Virgil were both doubled over from laughing so hard. The force of Alan's laughter was so hard that John had to literally hold him up to keep him off the floor. It lasted for a few minutes as the tension that had been building in all of them released just a little in the form of everyone's laughter. It had been a while since any of them could remember laughing, but it felt good to do it. The laughter also let them know that Doc had been right. They did need a break and to get out of the hospital for a while.

Once the laughter died down, Jeff went over to Scott's bed and leaned over to kiss him gently on the forehead before whispering quietly to him. "Your brothers and I are going to go out for a while, Scotty. You rest and don't worry. Doc will take good care of you while we're gone. We will be back soon. I promise. I love you, Son," Jeff whispered again as he laid his cheek against Scott's forehead before standing up. Turning he and Doc both began ushering his other sons from the room. Doc followed them all to the elevators as he reassured them again that he would call if there were any changes in Scott while they were gone. Jeff thanked Doc as he and the boys walked into the elevator that had opened.

"Now remember," Doc said before the elevator doors closed. "I don't want to see you or have you come back here until 0800. Got it?"

"Got it," they said as one just as the doors closed and the elevator descended to the floors below.

Not a one of them said a word as the doors finally opened and they made their way through the lobby and out to the patio that overlooked the lake that reflected the bright stars that littered the sky. Halfway through the lobby, Jeff noticed that John started looking pale and his breathing had increased. Having had the same thing happen to him just maybe an hour before he recognized the panic attack that was pending. Placing an arm around John's waist he ushered him faster through the lobby and had him seated outside before the others even knew something was wrong.

"Easy John," Jeff said softly as he gently pushed John's head down between his knees. "It's okay, Son, just go with it. It'll be over in just a minute."

"What's going on?" Virgil asked as he, Gordon, and Alan knelt down beside the chair John was seated in. The moment they saw Jeff push John's head down they realized that was happening. After that they all just knelt there beside him offering reassurance, until John's breathing regulated.

Jeff stood next to his oldest blond son, rubbing his back as John gasped for air and trembled with the emotions that were overwhelming him. Tears fell softly from the quiet Tracy brother's eyes when he finally was able to breathe again and sat up. Jeff leaned down and gently thumbed away the tears and placed his mouth against his son's forehead, knowing that John was feeling drained and vulnerable.

"It's okay, Son," Jeff whispered. "It's been a lot for all of us and it's getting to where we can't hold it in anymore." His words remained soft as he stroked through John's soft golden locks. "Just sit here and let me hold you until you feel stronger," Jeff said as he felt John start to pull from his embrace. "It's okay. I've got you and your brothers are here, too," he continued quietly as John's brothers all placed a comforting hand on their shaking brother.

It took a while before John finally felt in control of his emotions enough to lift his head from his father's shoulder and sit up again. Jeff let him go, but reached and took his hands in his own as he searched John's face to make certain that he was okay.

"Sorry about that," John said with a slight embarrassed tone as he tried to avoid looking at his brothers and father.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Son," Jeff said as he placed his hands on John's face and forced him to look up. "I had a panic attack when I left the room a few hours ago. Doc had to do the same thing with me, only I think mine lasted longer." Jeff said with a small smile. "After what we've been dealing with and after learning everything that we are going to have to do to help Scotty, I think that we all deserve to be overwhelmed at some point. So don't feel embarrassed or weak. This is just your body's way of dealing with it and it's better than our bodies shutting down completely or making us so sick that we can't help Scotty."

It took a few more minutes, but eventually they all were sitting quietly and looking out into the night sky. Jeff still held onto one of John's hands, but at this point it was hard to tell if it was more for Jeff's peace of mind than it was for John's comfort.

They had been sitting there for a while before they realized that they were not alone. None of them noticed there was a young woman sitting at the corner of the railing until she got to her feet and walked slowly towards them. The only way they could tell she was a young woman was how she was moving and by the long hair that blew in the slight breeze that was blowing. Jeff had tensed when the woman had first stood and as she approached he noticed that all his boys had instantly become alert. Nobody was supposed to be in this section of the hospital except the most critical of patients and visiting hours were over so no one should still be there. It didn't help that a lot of people knew that the Thunderbirds were in the hospital because one of them was injured. The media was having a fit that they couldn't get into the hospital and that the security was so tight they couldn't get any information. The fact that this woman was here and was approaching them was disturbing and let Jeff know that he might need to increase the security details. The only thing that gave him a little comfort was that the lighting was only along the edges of the patio area so everything was in shadow and they couldn't make out her features, even when she slowly approached the table where they were sitting. Jeff hoped that they were in shadow enough that the same could be said for them.

The woman didn't say anything until she was only a few feet away from their table, where she had stopped. It was as if she sensed their tension and had realized that she might be safer standing where she was.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said softly. "I didn't mean to intrude but I just had to come over and see if you were all okay and if there was anything that I could do to help."

"We're fine, but thank you," Virgil replied as he looked over at his father and brothers to gauge their reactions to what she had said.

The woman didn't say anything at first, but after a few moments she spoke. "I know you're the Thunderbirds. I won't come any closer because I know you don't want anyone to be able to see your faces and right now all I can see are big shadows," she continued in a quiet tone filled with weariness.

"I wanted to just thank you for all you did to save those people in the accident a few weeks ago. My little brother and his wife were killed but you were able to save my baby nephew and for that I will always be grateful," she said with tears in her voice. "I know that the one that rescued him was critically injured and is still here at the hospital. I'm hoping that he's going to be alright. I'm here with my nephew. He has a hole in his heart and they are doing surgery in the morning. My brother and his wife were taking him to meet up with a specialist the day of the accident." She stopped as she took a shaky breath before she continued. "I just wanted to tell you thank you and to let all of you know how grateful I am that you were able to save my nephew, Scotty. I'm also praying daily for your team member who was injured that he will make a quick recovery and be okay. I know from personal experience that God can move mountains, so I'm praying that he moves one for your fellow Thunderbird and gets him well soon. I'll be praying for you all," she finished softly before turning and starting to walk towards the patio doors. Before she could walk a step, Jeff was out of his chair and took hold of her hand gently.

"Your nephew's name is Scotty?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, keeping her gaze lowered so she wouldn't see his face. "My brother was in the Air Force and there was this pilot that he and the other guys talked about all the time named Scott Tracy. My brother met him once when he came to the base to talk to the men and from that day forward my brother said that if he had a son he wanted to name him after the bravest pilot he'd ever met. So when Braden and Shelly found out they were expecting my brother immediately said that if it was a boy his name would be Scott Tracen Mitchell. It was going to be Scott Tracy Mitchell, but Shelly put her foot down and said that sounded like way to many last names for such a little person. So, they compromised on Tracen." Sighing the young woman glanced up for a brief moment before lowering her eyes again and apologizing, "I'm sorry I know that I'm babbling, but I wanted all of you to know how special he is to me and that I cannot thank you enough for at least giving me another chance of having a piece of my brother and sister-in-law in my life."

Jeff could tell that the young woman was nervous and he could hear that she was smiling through tears that he could just make out glistening in the faint lighting. He also found himself smiling through his own tears as he cleared his throat before speaking.

"I've met Scott Tracy myself and he is as strong and brave a man as they come. Your brother and his wife gave their little one a name that would define the man he will become if he's anything like his namesake." Jeff for some reason felt compelled to pull the young woman in for a brief hug as he whispered, "Thank you for your prayers and know that we grieve with you for your loss and that we will be praying for a swift recovery for your little Scotty as well." Releasing the young woman he stepped back further into the shadow but before he did he took her hand again and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze. The young woman squeezed his hand back and then turned and walked quietly back into the hospital.

No one said a word as Jeff made his way back to the table where his sons were sitting. Tears were flowing from each pair of eyes and they all just let them fall. Each man at the table knew that there was a higher power out there looking over them and that a little boy named Scott Tracen Mitchell would always have a small place in their hearts right beside the one that Emerald Summer resided in. Yes, even with the grim prognosis for their Scott's full recovery, they knew that God, the Great Spirit, or whatever you wanted to call that higher power was sending them a message. A message that said that regardless of what it all looked like. Everything was going to be okay.

Back in the hospital room, Doc and Nurse Jenkins checked Scott's vitals and replaced the IV bag and bandages. All the while they talked to Scott and explained what it was that they were doing. He appeared to be asleep, but they wanted to be sure that they didn't startle him if he suddenly awoke. Doc checked Scott's wounds as he removed the dressings. Nurse Jenkins cleaned the wounds and gently gave Scott a sponge bath before applying new dressings. Once their self-assigned tasks were done, they headed out to resume their rounds. Nurse Jenkins paused briefly and gently stroked a lock of Scott's hair before she left, but he didn't move.

* * *

Scott heard voices and felt someone brush a hand through his hair, but he couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from. He opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by flowers. They were everywhere. He could also feel the soft grass and ground beneath him as he pushed his body up to sitting position. He was wearing doe skin leggings and shirt with fringe along the arms. His feet were bare and he could feel the breeze lifting his hair which was down to his shoulders. Looking around him, he saw that beyond the wildflowers there were lush green trees on one side and a crystal blue stream on the other. Shifting to his knees, Scott made to stand when he saw tiny bare feet come into his line of vision. Following the white beaded fringe he looked from those little toes up to a pair of hands that were holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Scott could look no further than that because the sun behind the small girl was so bright it kept him from seeing her face. Before he could say a word, one of those tiny hands reached out to him. As he took the tiny hand in his a small giggle caressed the fragrant breeze surrounding him with a peace and calm that he never knew before.

"Come on slow-poke," the little girl said. "Let's go put our feet in the stream and watch the fish nibble at our toes."

Scott couldn't help but smile at the delighted child as he pushed himself to his feet. After having all the nightmares about demons and the rescue he was happy to have a good dream for once. It wasn't until he stood up that he finally recognized the child holding his hand. "Summer?"

"Duh," Summer said while rolling her eyes, before she clasped Scott's hand and pulled him towards the stream. "Who'd you think it was, crazy? Your fairy god-mother?"

Laughing, Scott let Summer pull him along towards the stream. He couldn't say a word, because he wasn't sure who he'd thought she was at first. He only knew that he was very happy to see her and he wasn't sure why he had thought he would never see her again.

When they reached the water, Summer immediately sat down at the water's edge and put those little toed feet in the clear water. Laughing in delight as the multicolored fish swam immediately to her and nibbled them. Sitting down, Scott also placed his feet in the stream and smiled as the little fish did the same to him. Neither of them said a word for a long while. They both just sat there and enjoyed the sun warming their bodies, the fragrant breeze that blew across them and ruffled their hair and the cool water that ran over their feet.

"This is the best dream I've had in a long while," Scott said as he leaned back and looked up at the clear blue sky above them. "A very long while."

Summer laid back too, putting her head on Scott's arm and looking over at him. "It's called the Meadow Lands. Anyone can visit here. This is the place that most people come to visit with lost loved ones or if this is part of their journey they are taking."

"Does everyone that comes here find themselves dressed in Native American style or is this just my subconscious making this happen?" Scott asked.

"No, silly," Summer replied, giggling. "This is just how the Meadow Lands sees you."

"I don't understand," Scott said as he turned his head to look over at Summer. "What do you mean by, how the Meadow Lands see me?"

"The Meadow Lands see everyone differently," Summer explained. "Some they see as Warriors, like yourself, and some they see as other things. The Meadow Lands is different for everyone. They obviously see you as a wounded warrior. One who is in need of the peace and beauty of this place to make you feel safe and calm. That's why you see it this way. Others may see just trees, a bubbling brook or even a mountain that needs climbing. Like I said, The Meadow Lands is different for each individual that comes here. The next time you visit here it might be totally different."

"So, you're saying that however I pictured heaven would be is how the Meadow Lands lets us see it?" Scott asked.

"I guess," Summer replied. "I don't know how you've always pictured your heaven so I can't say if this is it or not."

"It is," Scott sighed. "It's exactly how I pictured heaven to look when I got there, or at least something like it. I always wanted it to look like this. My mom took me and Johnny to a place like this once when were were little. She told us about how our Great-great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded Sioux and how the meadow used to be filled with wildflowers and tee-pees were lined along the tree line so as not to disturb the flowers. I'll never forget that day. Mom fixed a picnic lunch and we spread out a blanket in the middle of the meadow and ate, then we went down to the water and swam for hours. I'll never forget how happy I was that day. Mom laughing as he held Johnny who was still real little in her arms as she twirled him around in the water. The sunlight gleaming off both their blond heads making it look like two angels playing in the water," Scott smiled even as tears filled his eyes. "I remember telling Mom that and she laughed and picked me up and told me that I was her son, so that made me an angel, too. I remember that made me so happy when she said that. That is my favorite memory of my mom. I hate that Gordon and Alan didn't get to have enough time with her to make such great memories. Especially Alan. He was only a baby when she died." Turning back to look up at the sky above him, Scott sighed as he said, "God, I miss her."

Summer didn't say a word but she smiled as she looked past Scott's head and saw the lithe figure in a white flowing dress coming towards them. When the woman in white finally got close enough, Summer tapped Scott's cheek with her little finger and when he turned to her she pointed to the figure standing only a few feet away. "I think she's here to see you, Scotty," Summer said as she sat up and moved back to watch.

As Scott turned his head to see who Summer was talking about, he felt gentle fingers stroke through his long hair and a hand lay gently against his cheek. "Mom," Scott whispered in wonder as he looked up into the face he had just been thinking about.

Smiling down at her son, Lucy didn't have to wait long before she found herself being pulled into Scott's embrace. Happy tears fell from her eyes as she held her little boy in her arms as he cried. "Shh, my little angel boy," Lucy whispered. "I've got you and it's everything is going to be okay. I have watched over you and your brothers, but I have missed holding each of you so much. It's good to hold you, my little one. My beautiful little Scotty angel."

"I have missed you, too, Mom," Scott sobbed as he tightened his hold around Lucy's waist. "I have missed you so much."

It took a while before Scott could bring himself to let his mother go and pull away from her, but he finally got control enough of his emotions that he could do it. Once he did, he looked into her face and it was just as he remembered it. Nothing about her had changed. She was exactly as she had been that day in the meadow with him and Johnny.

Smiling, Lucy reached to push a long of Scott's long hair back so that she could see his face. "You've turned out so handsome," she said. "Just like your father."

Scott couldn't find his voice. It was as if his vocal cords were paralyzed with every emotion he was feeling and it was all clogged in his throat. Finally, he found his voice again and asked the questions he'd been dying to know, "Mom, why am I here? Am I dead?"

"No, baby," Lucy smiled. "You're not dead. You're just resting. Summer brought you here so that you could rest for a while without the nightmares or fear keeping you from it. You need to rest, sweetheart, so that you can heal."

"Mom," Scott said in a shaky voice. "I know that I'm hurt really bad. I can't remember what all is wrong, but I just know deep down that it's bad and that I'm not sure if I'm going to make it."

"Angel-boy," Lucy said as she slid behind him and pulled him back against her so that his head rested on her chest below her chin. "You are hurt very bad, but your recovery rests completely on you. You cannot give up. No matter how much you want to or how scary it gets. You have a whole life ahead of you filled with many wondrous things. I want you to fight very hard to complete this last journey that you and Summer must face but for now I want to just sit here and hold my boy and feel the sunshine warming us."

"Okay, Mom," Scott said as he let himself relax into his mother's arms and let his dark worried thoughts drift away on the cool breeze. It didn't take long for his eyes to close and he was barely aware of his mother shifting him gently back onto the ground and placing a kiss on his brow.

"Sleep, baby," Lucy whispered as she leaned down to his ear. "Sleep and know that I'm here and still watching over you. No matter where you are or how far you go, my angel. I'm always with you and your brothers." Then as silently as she appeared, she left, but not before giving Summer a knowing look.

* * *

It was 5am and Doc and Nurse Jenkins had just left after coming to recheck Scott's vitals and make certain that he was still sleeping. They then went back to their rounds and never noticed the two dark figures slipping from the stairway, past the nurses' station and into the ICU room where Scott was laying.

The guard that had been posted at the stair was slumped slightly against the wall but was sitting up enough that it didn't cause alarm to anyone that saw him. The tranquilizer that he had been given would last for a few hours. Just enough time for the two figures to get in, get their information they needed, and then get out. It wasn't everyday that you got any info on a Thunderbird, except what little you were allowed to get. So, today was treat for the two figures as they approached the bed with the injured young man lying so still upon it.

Both made it to the bedside and looked down at the young man on the bed. What they saw there, they couldn't explain or believe what they were seeing.

"Omg, Jed," one of the men said to the other. "He's too damn young to be this hurt. Maybe we shouldn't do this. He don't look so good and I don't want to piss the Thunderbirds off, man. They don't take kindly to people messing in their business and this guy is just too, too…." He let the sentence drop off as the other man in the room slapped him on the back of the head and growled.

"Shut up, Dan," the other man hissed. "We've made it this far and I'll be damned if I don't get the first real picture of a Thunderbird. I don't give a shit if he's young or how hurt he is. I'm getting that money shot. Do you have any idea how much money we'll get for a shot like this? I mean look at him. They are saying that he's the Field Commander. It doesn't get any better than that. Now if you can't handle this, then get your chicken-ass back out in the hall and make sure that nobody comes in while I do it. So what's it going to be? You in or out?"

Feeling torn, but knowing deep down that what they were doing was wrong, Dan sighed, then turned and walked cautiously back outside the room. He just couldn't do it. No matter how good the money would be. He just couldn't do that to the young man lying so still in that bed. That young man was someone's son or brother and he wouldn't want someone doing that to his little brothers or sister. That's why he sure as hell wasn't going to do it to this young man "Let Jed get his money-shot," Dan mumbled to himself, as he made his way back to the stairwell past the still sleeping security officer. "When it bites him on the ass he'll have nobody to blame but himself."

Inside the room, Jed looked down at the still form and smiled. This was going to be easier than he first thought. Picking up his camera, he took the cap off the lens and then lifted it to take the shot. Just as he went to snap the picture a shimmery mist formed over the sleeping form of the man on the bed and blanketed him. Jed, looking through the camera lens couldn't get the camera to focus enough to get a shot so he lowered the camera to check the lens. The moment he did he came face-to-face with a long, dark-haired little girl. She startled him so bad that he dropped his camera and it shattered into about twenty different pieces.

"SHIT," Jed hissed as he saw her and the camera fell. "Where the hell did you come from and what are you doing here?" he growled as he bent to see if the camera was salvageable.

"You're a very bad man and I don't think that you should be in here trying to take pictures," the little girl said sweetly. A little too sweetly for Jed's taste, because the tone of her voice sent a chill down his spine."I think that you should leave and never come back here again or something bad might happen to you," she continued in that same overly sweet little girl tone.

"Yeah, well," Jed finally shrugged. "I don't take too well to threats from little girls who shouldn't be in here. So, why don't you just leave so that I can get my picture, then I'll leave you both alone and you'll never see me again? How about that?"

Smiling, the little girl stepped closer to him. Jed didn't understand why that made him feel like running, but it did. It was the way she moved. It was like a predator. One that was defending its territory and would do anything that it took to do so. Jed found himself backing away even though he didn't realize it at the time. It was just his body reacting to the real live threat that it knew was coming for it.

The moment his back his the far wall the little girl spoke again in that tone that made him tremble even more than he was already. "Yeah, well," she smirked. "It's not really me that you have to be scared of, but if you stay a little bit longer I'm sure you'll discover exactly who it is who you SHOULD be fearing. Trust me. You really should leave now for your own good. He will not be forgiving nor will he allow you to leave this room without paying in blood and broken bones."

"What the hell are you?" Jed asked in a shaky voice. "What exactly the hell are you? You're not a little girl. You're something else entirely," he finished in a trembling whisper.

The little girl looked at him with gleaming dark eyes that seemed to grow blacker and in a hollow haunted voice said, "I am the warning. The only warning that you will receive before the Guardian comes. I am the one sent to see if you are worthy or if you are not. Your friend who left has been found worthy and will live. You, however, are not worthy and when the Guardian gets here, you will be shown no mercy. You will not leave this room alive if you do not go now."

Holy shit, this little girl scared the crap out of him. Jed didn't waste one more second. He ran from the room as if all the demons from hell were on his heels and he didn't stop until guards from the other end of the hall tackled him to the ground. Unfortunately, in his rush, he forgot about the other set of guards and ran out the door screaming. Once the guards had him on the ground, he screamed at them to get off him. Jed screamed until he couldn't scream anymore about the little girl in the room. The little girl with the evil voice and evil eyes. He screamed until the doctors punched the needle in his ass. His last thoughts were that he didn't want the little girl or the Guardian to get him. Then he promptly pissed himself and passed out.

Back in the room, Summer walked over to Scott's sleeping form and leaned down. Giggling, she whispered in his ear. "It's okay now, Scotty. That meanie head is gone and he won't hurt you. I scared him good, so he won't come back." Then as the door flung open and Doc, Nurse Jenkins, and three security officers came in, Summer faded into mist and disappeared. Her faint giggle echoing in the room as she did.

Doc, three security officers, and Nurse Jenkins immediately ran into Scott's room to check him and to see if this little girl was still there. They didn't find anyone except Scott in the room, but as they had entered, they all thought they had heard a giggling child's voice. It couldn't be explained, but after checking to make certain that Scott's vitals were still good, Doc and the others left the room. All of them a little shaken, but glad that whatever had happened to scare that man, was no longer in the room and had protected Scott from harm. For that alone, Doc was grateful. He still hated that he would have to tell Jeff that security had been breached and Scott's identity almost revealed. Yeah, that was not going to be a fun conversation to have with his old friend. Especially when he had promised that Scott would be safe. "Oh well, maybe I can think of a gentler way of breaking the news to Jeff," Doc thought to himself as he walked from the room. That was until the elevator doors opened and Jeff and all four of his other sons came barreling towards him with looks of panic on their faces. "Now, how the hell did they know something was wrong?" Doc wondered, shaking his head as he made his way towards them to head them off and let them know that everything was under control.

* * *

Out on the patio, Jeff and his boys had sat talking quietly. Each of them having needed the fresh air and time to relax. They had talked about everything and anything to keep their minds off their stress. That is until John suddenly went still and then bolted from his chair with a gasp.

"What's wrong son?,' Jeff asked worriedly as he rose to grasp John's arm as he bolted.

"Something's happened. Something's wrong with Scotty. I feel it," John gasped trying to pull from his dad's grip. "DAD, LET ME GO," he cried. "We have to get to Scotty! We have to get to Scotty, RIGHT NOW !"

Jeff let him go and John ran for the patio doors leading back into the hospital. Jeff and the others followed him and made it just in time to the elevator before the doors closed. They almost knocked a young man holding a camera down as they did.

"Sorry," Gordon said as he reached and steadied the man. "You okay?"

"Yes," Dan said as he looked at the young red-head. "I'm sorry myself. I wasn't paying any attention, but I'm okay." Then as Gordon released him, Dan walked out towards the doors of the lobby headed outside. That is until two guards grabbed him by the arms and hauled him back inside.

Jeff and the boys didn't see what happened next because the elevator doors closed, but the fact that the security detail officers were ones that Doc had posted upstairs where Scott was, didn't bode well. They all became more anxious as the elevator passed each floor and got closer and closer to Scott's floor. None of them knew what to expect once those doors opened, and the dread of finding that something had happened to Scotty was killing them. Especially considering that John was all but panicking by the time the elevator stopped on their floor.

The second the doors opened, John, Jeff, Gordon, Virgil and Alan all bolted from the elevator and made a beeline for Scott's room. They all saw Doc walking towards them, and from the look on his face, they knew something had happened. Something that they were not going to like. As Doc came to a stop in front of them, Jeff looked into his friend's eyes and in a calmer voice than he thought he could manage asked, "What's happened and where's Scotty?"


End file.
